Coca-Cola Co. said its first-quarter earnings and revenue
declined, though volumes for the beverage giant edged up.
Revenue for the period slightly topped Wall Street
expectations.
Coke has launched an aggressive, wide-ranging marketing effort
while investing in core carbonated drinks and introducing new
products as it struggles with progressively worse trends in soda
sales. Last month, trade publication Beverage Digest said the
industry suffered its ninth straight yearly volume contraction last
year as consumers increasingly abandoned diet sodas, which Coke,
PepsiCo Inc. and their rivals have relied on to make up for falling
sales in sugary soda.
Coke's world-wide unit-case soda volumes rose 2%--with sparkling
beverage volume down 1%--in the first quarter, with flat volumes in
North America, where sparkling beverage volume fell 1%.
Coke Chairman and Chief Executive Muhtar Kent said in a release
Tuesday that the company's "growth momentum is steadily improving
in line with our expectations."
The company has targeted 3% to 4% annual soda volume growth, a
goal some observers have dismissed as unrealistic.
The core Coke brand posted flat volumes in North America for the
period, as the company "saw significant improvement in brand health
metrics" thanks to its marketing initiatives around the Super Bowl
and the Sochi Winter Olympics programming.
The company's nonsoda beverages--which include Minute Maid juice
and Dasani water, among others--continued to be a bright spot in
the quarter, with world-wide volume rising 8%.
Overall, Coke posted a profit of $1.62 billion, or 36 cents a
share, down from $1.75 billion, or 39 cents a share, a year
earlier. Excluding items, per-share earnings came in at 44
cents.
Revenue fell to $10.58 billion. Excluding certain structural
changes, currency-neutral net revenue improved 2% for the quarter,
the company said.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 44
cents a share and revenue of $10.55 billion.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires