By Elliot Gulliver-Needham
Coca-Cola HBC, the European bottling partner of Coca-Cola, saw its organic volume growth exceed expectations, increasing 1.7 per cent throughout the twelve months ended 31 December 2023.
In its results for the period, which were published this morning, the firm said strong performance in energy drinks and coffee volumes, which grew organically by 27.3 per cent and 31.5 per cent respectively, were major growth drivers.
Operating profit jumped 35.5 per cent to €953.6m. for the period.
Organic revenue per case growth sat at 15 per cent, which the firm said reflected the benefits of its revenue growth management initiatives throughout the year, while revenue rose 10.7 per cent, which it noted had been hit by FX translation headwinds in emerging markets.
It added that it had seen continued value share gains in both its non-alcoholic ready-to-drink and sparkling businesses, which grew 110 basis points and 80 basis points respectively.
The news comes following Coca-Cola’s results yesterday, which saw fourth-quarter revenue come in ahead of Wall Street estimates due to higher prices and strong demand.
Last week, shares in the firm fell after warnings from analysts that it could be hit by financial boycotts over the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
“We believe that there is likely to be some modest impact towards the end of the fourth quarter from the Middle East conflict with risk of boycotting of western brands,” said analysts at Jefferies.
This caused some analysts to lower volume growth predictions from 1.2 per cent to one per cent, and push operating profit forecasts from 10.9 per cent to 8.7 per cent.
Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC, said he was “deeply proud” of the firm for delivering a third year of double-digit growth and record profits.
“2023 was another year of consistent execution of our growth strategy. We delivered volume growth, share gains, improved margins and record levels of free cash flow. As a result, we were able to increase shareholder returns, including the launch of a share buyback programme,” he added.
