13th Aug 2015 06:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Coca-Cola HBC AG Thursday reported a rise in profit in the first half of its financial year as it benefited from growth in volumes and margins, although its revenue was hit by adverse foreign exchange rates.
The FTSE 100 soft drinks bottling company reported a pretax profit in the six months ended July 3 of EUR164.7 million, up from the EUR129.2 million profit it made in the same period the year before, although revenue did slip to EUR3.15 billion from EUR3.18 billion.
Coca-Cola HBC said that underlying volume growth gained momentum in the second quarter, leading to a 3.8% rise in the first half. All countries in the developing segment contributed to a 6.2% rise in volume for that market, while a strong performance in Nigeria, Romania and Ukraine more than offset a weakness in Russia, lifting emerging market volume by 5.4%. Volume in the established market was broadly unchanged from the prior-year period, it said.
However, Coca-Cola HBC added that revenue slipped slightly as adverse foreign exchange rates more than offset the volume gains.
Its gross profit margin increased to 36.5% from 35.8% which it said was down to favourable input costs.
"We are pleased to have achieved strong results, with good volume growth and a significant improvement in margins. Our strategic initiatives are delivering, both through our commercial strategy designed to drive growth and ongoing efficiency improvements," Chief Executive Dimitris Lois said in a statement.
"Difficult conditions remain in many of our markets, particularly in Russia, although we have proven to be adaptable and resilient in such markets. Conditions are more favourable in Eastern Europe and Nigeria, where we are confident of further growth. We have become more optimistic as the year has progressed and remain confident that 2015 will be a year of volume growth and progress on margins," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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