NEW YORK: Coca-Cola delivered quarterly earnings that came in above analysts’ expectations on Wednesday. However, revenue came in lower than expected due to a stronger U.S. dollar.
The company reported earnings of 51 cents per share on $11.43 billion in revenue. Shares of the company were down about 1 percent in premarket trading.
Wall Street had expected Coca-Cola to deliver quarterly earnings per share of 50 cents on $11.54 billion in revenue, according to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters.
The company’s quarterly revenue fell nearly 5 percent as a strong dollar reduced the value of sales in markets outside North America. Net operating revenue fell to $11.43 billion from $11.98 billion a year ago.
The company’s sales in Asia-Pacific fell 11 percent in the third quarter, while sales in Latin America declined 14 percent. Sales in Europe fell 7 percent. The three markets account for a third of Coca-Cola’s total revenue.
“Our third quarter results were in line with our expectations and reflect the continued execution of our strategic initiatives to restore momentum, which are beginning to take hold across our global business,” said CEO Muhtar Kent.
Sales in North America, the company’s biggest market, rose 1 percent, helped by higher pricing and its expanded distribution agreement with energy drink maker Monster Beverage.
The company also announced that it was expanding its distribution territories in seven states through three U.S. bottlers in ongoing efforts to refranchise half of company-owned U.S. bottler-delivered volume by the end of 2017. The announcement affects several states including Florida, Michigan and Iowa.
Most of the company’s growth has been in non-soda products like bottled water and tea. Kathy Waller, Coke’s CFO, told CNBC on Wednesday, “We’re still having challenges with diets and lights. However, we do believe we have some very loyal Diet Coke consumers.”
“Part of it is people are making the shift from Diet Coke to Coke Zero,” she added.
Last week, the company declared a quarterly dividend of 33 cents per common share, payable in December. “This is equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.32 per share, up from $1.22 per share in 2014. The increase reflects the Board’s confidence in the Company’s long-term cash flow,” Coke said in a statement.
Shares of Coke have dipped almost 3 percent over the past year.
