Coca-Cola has posted a quarterly net income of $1.84bn (£1.01bn), beating analysts’ expectations and signalling what many observers have touted as a financial recovery.
For the half-year, net income was $2.94bn (£1.61bn).
Quarterly earnings per share hit $0.74, excluding the IPO of the company’s Turkish bottler, approximately two cents higher than Wall Street’s expectations, according to calculations from news agency Reuters. Earnings per share for its second quarter in 2005 were $0.72.
Coca-Cola’s revenue for second quarter 2006 was up 3%, as was operating income. Worldwide unit case volume increased 4% both for the quarter, and for the year-to-date.
Continuing with unit case volume, carbonated drinks were up 3%, with non-carbonated delivering 5% growth.
Key brands Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite performed strongly, increasing 3%, 4% and 5% respectively. China, Russia, Turkey and Argentina all reported double-digit growth, while the Japanese, Philippine and Indian markets reported declines.
Despite 3% unit case volume growth for the quarter, and 2% growth for the year, the cola leader’s net revenue was down 12% for the quarter, and 16% for the year-to-date in the EU.
The company largely put this down to the transfer of canning rights to Coca-Cola’s bottlers in Spain at the beginning of the year.
Coca-Cola also said that northwest Europe, including the UK, has begun to “stabilise” returning low single digit growth. This stability was aided by the launch of male oriented diet drink Coca Cola Zero toward the end of the period.
In the Latin American market, net revenue for the quarter was up 18%, and 20% for the year-to-date.
Neville Isdell, chairman of Coca-Cola, praised the company results, noting the role played by World Cup marketing initiatives.
He said: “Continued strong growth in Brazil, China, Russia, as well as other emerging markets, in particular in Latin America, along with another solid quarter in North America and improved results in Europe drove our performance.
“We remain excited about the remainder of the year, as we maintain our focus on execution and continue to introduce successful beverages into key markets, such as the launch of Coca-Cola Zero in the UK, Germany, Spain and Belgium. We will also roll-out the ‘Coke Side of Life’ campaign across the globe and continue to expand our portfolio.”
