Coca-Cola raises 2019 forecast on coffee, zero sugar soda boost

[July 23, 2019]  (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co <KO.N> on Tuesday beat analysts' estimate for quarterly profit and raised its organic revenue forecast for the full year, driven by demand for zero sugar soda and innovations, such as the Coca-Cola Plus Coffee.

The world's biggest beverage maker has been responding to changing consumer tastes by moving beyond traditional sodas and offering drinks that are lower in sugar or come in new flavors.

Coca-Cola bought Britain-based Costa Coffee for $5.1 billion and recently rolled out ready-to-drink coffee in cans in the UK and a coffee based soda in several markets. The company plans to launch the beverages in other markets this year.

The beverage maker reported a 6% rise in second-quarter organic revenue, a keenly watched metric that gives sales growth excluding acquisitions and currency fluctuations.

Net revenue rose 6.1% to $10 billion in the second quarter ended June 28, a touch above the estimate of $9.99 billion, according IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net income attributable to the Atlanta, Georgia-based company rose to $2.61 billion, or 61 cents per share, from $2.32 billion, or 54 cents per share from a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 63 cents per share, 2 cents above Wall Street's estimates.

The company said it expected organic revenues to grow 5% in the whole of 2019, up from its previous projection of a about a 4% rise.

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

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