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Rebound of the demand for dietetic cola
Coca Cola
Co.
KO 1.70%
last quarter, as consumers turned to zero-calorie beverages they had previously rejected.
The company's overall soft drink volume increased 2% from the same quarter of last year, mainly due to growing demand for Diet Coke and Coke Zero Sugar, a reformulation of Coke Zero that tastes and resembles more to the original Coca, with a red circle on the cans.
"Sugar Coke Zero is riding high," with global sales growth in teenage high percentage points, said chief executive James Quincey in an interview on Tuesday.
Diet Coke even had gains in the United States, where its sales volume has been declining for more than a decade, with consumers now turning to bottled water and flavored liquor. Sprite and Fanta, low in calories and no calories, have also contributed to higher sales, except in a few countries in Central America where the company has too much changed receipts and discontented consumers, Quincey said.
"We have of course corrected" these markets, he said. "We have seen good consumer acceptance where we are staged in reducing sugar."
In January, the soda giant launched four new flavors of Diet Coke, including Ginger Lime and Zesty Blood Orange, packaged in new cans.
The small single-digit price increases on coke products in North America, implemented after the United States imposed tariffs on imports from China, did not seem to dampen demand. Organic revenue, which excludes currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestments, increased by 6% compared to last year. Sales volume increased 2% over the previous year.
Coca-Cola replaced Coke Zero with Coke Zero Sugar in the United States last year. The company aimed to reduce sugar from its products and to diversify beyond soda ash, while more and more countries are applying taxes on high-calorie beverages to combat rising rates of obesity and diabetes and that consumers are opting for healthier drinks.
Overall, the net sales of the beverage company declined 9% to $ 8.25 billion, as a result of the company's re-encapsulation of the bottling business. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were counting on a $ 8.17 billion business figure.
The Atlanta-based company reported third quarter earnings of $ 1.88 billion, or 44 cents a share, up from $ 1.45 billion, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, it gained 58 cents per share, exceeding the 55 cents expected by analysts.
For 2018, the company has maintained its target of organic growth of at least 4% of revenue and a growth of 8% -10% of adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations compared to US $ 1.91 in 2017.
The stock was up 0.6% in morning trading on Tuesday. Shares rose 1.9% in the last 12 months.
Write to Jennifer Maloney at [email protected] and Aisha Al-Muslim at [email protected]
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