Coca-Cola see 4Q profits surge

Source: Food and Drink Digital

Date :13/02/2008 04:31:21

The world’s largest beverage maker today released its fourth quarter results, showing an increase in profits of 79 percent up to $678 million.

In a statement released today, Coca-Cola said that it had earned $1.21 billion, or 52 cents a share, for the three months ending December 31. For the year before, the company earned $678 million, or 29 cents a share, as it was hit by an impairment charge at its largest bottler.

Revenue in the quarter rose 24 percent to $7.33 billion, compared to $5.93 billion recorded a year earlier.

For the full year, Coca-Cola said that it earned $5.98 billion, or $2.57 a share, compared to a profit of $5.08 billion, or $2.16 a share, for all of 2006.

Full-year revenue rose 20 percent to $28.86 billion, compared to $24.09 billion recorded in 2006.

Implementation

President and Chief Operating Officer Muhtar Kent said, "Clearly, our strategies are right and our execution is working as 2007 was a successful year for The Coca-Cola Company. As evident from our results, we consistently delivered on our promise of executing against our growth agenda.

“Our international business, led by the emerging markets, continues to drive our overall growth, while stabilizing key markets like Japan, the Philippines and North America underscores our ability to re-energize major markets,” he continued.

"I am pleased with the progress we made against our 2007 priorities. We are now better positioned to capture the significant growth opportunities. As we look to 2008, the foundation is in place to deliver another successful year of balanced geographic and brand growth for The Coca-Cola Company."

February 13, 2008