Coca-Cola has beaten quarterly revenue and profit expectations, helped by higher prices and a rebound in demand in the out-of-home market.
The company said suspension of its operations in Russia would impact its annual profit by 4 cents per share and annual net revenue by about 1% to 2%. However, it left its forecast for annual comparable earnings per share growth unchanged at 5% to 6%.
Read More: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo Suspend Drinks Sales In Russia, L'Oréal Closes Stores
Net revenue rose 16% to $10.5 billion (€9.98 billion) in the first quarter. Analysts had expected revenue of $9.83 billion (9.34 billion), according to Refinitiv data.
Net income attributable to Coca-Cola shareholders rose 24% to $2.78 billion (€2.64 billion), or 64 cents per share, in the three months ended 1 April 2022.
Analysts had expected a profit of 58 cents per share.
Refillable Glass Bottles
The cola giant also warned that consumer demand could slow as rampant inflation shows no sign of cooling and said it was focusing on more affordable and refillable glass bottles in markets facing the biggest pinch from price increases.
To prepare for the expected drop in consumer purchasing power, Coca-Cola said it was expanding the distribution of cheaper returnable or refillable glass bottles in emerging markets in Latin America and Africa.
It is also experimenting with returnable bottles in the Southwest United States.
Demand for sodas and other packaged foods has so far held strong despite price increases that resulted from higher costs for everything from aluminium cans to sugar, labour and transportation.
Coca-Cola chief executive officer James Quincey said the resilience in demand will not last forever.
"I do not expect (price) elasticities to be inelastic going forward. I expect elasticity to increase at some point in the future. Will that be next quarter? Or will that be next year? I can't give you the answer to that," Quincey said on call with analysts.
Procter & Gamble earlier this month said it expected demand for its US feminine, home and oral care products to soften as summer price increases feed through to shop shelves.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM – your source for the latest A-Brands news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
