Coca-Cola and PepsiCo reveal fizz in flat sales
The two multinational soft drink firms went head to head this week, publishing their quarterly results, and both recorded encouraging numbers.
International Coke
Coca-Cola reported a 4 per cent increase in global sales volumes, driven by gains of 33 per cent in India and 14 per cent in China.
Still beverages, which cover juices, sports drinks, teas and water brands, was one of the strongest divisions, posting an 8 per cent increase in sales volume. Again, overseas sales volumes were strongest, growing 12 per cent, while North American volumes climbed only 1 per cent.
The increased sales volume, lower commodity costs, and restructuring all helped Coca-Cola increase its reported earnings per share 44 per cent on the same period last year to $0.88.
Commenting on the results, CEO Muhtar Kent said: “We outperformed the nonalcoholic ready-to-drink industry in most of our key markets and drove further global volume and value share gains.”
Coca-Cola remains committed to its long-term target of 3-4 per cent volume growth and high single digit earnings per share growth this year.
Soft drink rival PepsiCo swiftly followed Coca-Cola with its quarterly financial statement.
Flat Pepsi
On the top line, PepsiCo reported a 3 per cent decline in net revenue and a 1 per cent increase in sales volume, driven primarily by food and international sales.
Quarterly earnings told a similar story, dropping 2 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Although the figures appear less impressive than those of Coca-Cola, investors reacted positively to the news, as earnings topped market expectations.
PepsiCo was also confident that the figures would do nothing to shake its estimates for the full financial year of mid to high single digit growth in net revenue and earnings per share.
“Our results this quarter reinforce the advantages of our balanced portfolio, as our food and international businesses delivered solid performance while we continued the transformation of our North American beverage business,” said PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.
