Coca Cola reports fourth quarter revenue beat, targets 5% 2020 growth

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[January 30, 2020]  (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co <KO.N> on Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly sales driven by demand for its sparkling soft drinks, teas and coffees in North America and emerging markets.

 Boxes of Coca-Cola are seen at a grocery store in Los Angeles, California U.S. November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

The company has been pushing to launch more coffee, teas and low-sugar beverages to expand its offer of in-demand products as consumers move away from sugary drinks.

At the same time, rival PepsiCo <PEP.O> is preparing for the launch of its own coffee-cola beverage that has double the caffeine punch as regular soda. Coca-Cola sells the product in some international markets and is yet to make a U.S. entry.

Coca-Cola's shares were up about 2% in trading before the bell. The stock rose about 17% last year, compared with the broader S&P 500 Consumer Staples index <.SPLRCS> and rival PepsiCo <PEP.O> which have each gained about 24%.

Coke sees 2020 organic revenues, a keenly watched metric that excludes currency fluctuations and acquisitions, to grow about 5%, compared with the 6% rise it reported in 2019.

For the year, Coke expects to record adjusted profit of $2.25 per share, a cent below analysts' forecast, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Excluding one-time items, Coca-Cola earned 44 cents per share in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, meeting Wall Street expectations.

Net revenue grew 16% to $9.07 billion, beating the estimate of $8.89 billion.

Net income attributable to the company's shareholders rose to $2.04 billion, or 47 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $870 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

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