Coca-Cola warns of bigger hit on revenue from strong dollar
By Anjali Athavaley and Sruthi Ramakrishnan
(Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly sales due to a strong dollar, and the company said it expected the currency to hurt its full-year revenue more than previously anticipated.
The soda maker, which gets more than half of its total revenue from markets outside North America, said a strong dollar would lower its full-year revenue by 7 percentage points compared with 6 percentage points estimated earlier.
The dollar has risen 12 percent against a basket of major currencies in the past year.
Coke has called 2015 a transition year as it tries to cut costs and boost sales by raising prices and diversifying into beverages beyond soft drinks such as cold-pressed juices and energy drinks. The company has said that it is targeting $3 billion in annual cost savings by 2019.
It is also selling back its North American bottling operations to franchisees in a move to reduce low-margin assets on its balance sheet. The company said on Wednesday it signed letters of intent with three U.S. bottlers to expand distribution areas in seven states.
Overall, Coca-Cola's global sales volume rose 3 percent, driven by non-carbonated beverages such as ready-to-drink teas and juices.
In an interview, RBC Capital analyst Nik Modi called the growth healthy. He also noted that selling, general and administrative expenses, which declined 7 percent to $4.2 billion, were less than he expected, indicating that the company's cost cutting was having an impact earlier than anticipated.
Revenue from North America, its biggest market, rose 1 percent, helped by higher pricing and expanded distribution of Monster Beverage Corp's (NASDAQ: MNST) energy drinks.
Asia Pacific was the only business where sales excluding impacts from acquisitions declined, indicating that consumers there are shifting from soft drinks to non-carbonated beverages like tea. "Coke is not as well positioned in those categories," he said.
Shares fell 8 cents to $42.38 in early trading.
Coca-Cola's net operating revenue fell nearly 5 percent to $11.43 billion in the quarter ended Oct. 2. Its organic revenue, which excludes the impact of currency movements and mergers and acquisitions, rose 3 percent.
Net income attributable to shareholders fell 31.3 percent to $1.45 billion, or 33 cents per share.
Excluding items, Coca-Cola earned 51 cents per share.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of 50 cents per share and revenue of $11.54 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Anjali Athavaley in New York and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Phil Berlowitz)