Coca-Cola earnings pop

Posted Jul 17th 2007 8:42AM by Beth Gaston Moon
Filed under: Before the Bell, Earnings Reports, Live Coverage, Coca-Cola (KO)

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) said this morning that second-quarter income reached $1.85 billion, or 80 cents per share, a fractional increase from year-ago results of $1.84 billion (78 cents per share). During the latest reporting period, the soft-drink giant swallowed a charge of five cents per share related to restructuring charges. The pre-item results of 85 cents topped analysts' expectations of 82 cents per share.

Revenue spiked 19% during the quarter to $7.73 billion, thanks to a weaker dollar and a 6% jump in case volume worldwide. Analysts were projecting quarterly revenue of $7.34 billion.

Emerging markets - including China, India, and Brazil - posted double-digit volume growth during the quarter, while international case volume overall rose by 9%. KO officials expect the Asian market will be critical to the company's overall growth during the next 10 years.

Company chairman and CEO Neville Isdell affirmed in a press release that "We delivered another strong quarter ... we must underscore that we continue to manage for the long term. An overall favorable global environment has assisted our concerted and successful actions in the marketplace."

Isdell added that as the company moves into the second half of its fiscal year, Coke officials remain "focused on leveraging our leading brands, building our innovation pipeline and driving productivity - the platform for delivering long-term sustainable growth."

Company Chief Operating Officer Muhtar Kent noted that "Our results continue to be led by our international operations ... performance in important markets, such as Japan, Germany, India and the Philippines, is showing signs that the actions we've taken are working ... each quarter - including now in North America - we are making steady progress."

I just wish they'd bring back C2.

In pre-market trading, KO shares have gained 1.3%.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Tags: earnings, KO

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-17-2007 @ 11:22AM

Michael Schneider said...

Commentators, first somewhat critical of the recent Glaceau acquisition are getting more positive about that. Also, analyst on CNBC this morning noted that Coke Zero is a hit in North America and it is still being rolled out globally. Great results for Coca-Cola esp. given the cooler weather in the US this summer.

Coca-Cola is on our Barrel View stock list of stocks that have been mentioned in our free Barrel View weekly mailing at http://Barrelomoney.com. There will be a few new comments on KO in this week's Saturday mailing. Barrelomoney has been bullish on KO since around $42-- when most analysts preferred Pepsico as "best of breed" (exceptions Hermann Cain, Charles Payne and some others). Anyone who signs the Private Guest Book at http://www.Barrelomoney.com can receive The Barrel View free (we do not send advertising or junk mail to people either- just the mailing you sign up for).