But No. 1 beverage company misses on sales expectations for quarter.
July 22, 2004: 4:43 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage company on Thursday posted a second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates but fell short on sales expectations, citing weakness in its international markets.
Atlanta-based Coke said it earned $1.5 billion, or 65 cents a share in the second quarter, up from $1.3 million or 55 cents a share during the same quarter last year.
Analysts had forecast a profit of 63 cents a share for the period. Revenue rose 5 percent to $5.9 billion, missing consensus estimates for sales of $6.1 billion for the period.
"Our results in the quarter reflect solid performance in many markets, but we are experiencing challenging conditions in several key countries, including Germany, Mexico and the Philippines," the company's new chairman and CEO Neville Isdell said in a statement.
"Within these markets, we expect the environment to remain difficult throughout the remainder of this year while we focus on improving our short-term performance and strengthening our system's long-term capabilities," he added.
Coke (KO: Research, Estimates) shares traded fractionally lower in after-hours trading after ending the day down 23 cents to $48.97.
Coke's worldwide case sales grew an anemic 1 percent in the quarter and just 2 percent in the first six months of the year.
In the important North American region, volume was up 2 percent on average daily basis. Diet carbonated soft drinks led second-quarter growth in the region, up 7 percent, the company said.
The company also reported first quarter unit case volume growth of 24 percent for Powerade and 12 percent for Dasani.
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