Bottler Coca-Cola HBC beats revenue estimate on strong demand

(Reuters) -Bottler Coca-Cola HBC beat market forecast for first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, and reiterated its operating profit would rise this year, supported by strong demand for its coffee, energy and sparkling drinks.

The company has continued to see strong sales even as prices were hiked to keep up with high costs and countries such as Egypt and Nigeria were affected by the devaluation of their naira and Egyptian pound currencies, respectively.

"We actually did pricing adjustments in the first quarter to actually mitigate ongoing cost inflation, but clearly this has been on a lower level than Q1 of last year," CEO Zoran Bogdanovic told Reuters on a call.

Price increases are expected to moderate relative to last year because inflation levels are lower, Bogdanovic added.

The Switzerland-based company, in which U.S. beverage giant Coca-Cola owns 21%, reported a 12.6% rise in organic net sales revenue for the three months ended March 29 to 2.23 billion euros ($2.39 billion).

Analysts in a company-compiled poll had expected organic revenue growth of 9.5%.

Shares in the company rose as much as 2.3% to 2,634 pence.

Coca-Cola HBC maintained its outlook for annual organic operating profit to increase in a range of 3% to 9%, as it ramps up its investments and brand launches.

Organic revenue per case for the quarter was up 10.6%.

"We see the business better able to navigate a more challenging environment vs history, given investments made over the past years around commercial capabilities and portfolio," analysts at Jefferies said in a note.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola raised its annual organic sales forecast on Tuesday after beating first-quarter revenue and profit expectations as customers spend more on the company's pricey sodas and juices globally.

($1 = 0.9342 euros)

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