Moody’s has said that while the creation of Coca-Cola European Partners creates the ‘creates the world’s largest Coke bottler’, the group’s focus on Western Europe will impact its growth possibilities.
‘With pro forma sales of $12.2 billion and EBITDA of $2.1 billion, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) will be over 25% larger than the next largest Coke bottler and will have significant strategic importance to The Coca-Cola Company,’ Moody’s said in a report.
However, it added that ‘revenue growth will be modest due to its concentration in developed markets in Western Europe, which will expose it to tax increases, sluggish economies, and austerity measures’.
Moody’s noted that the combined entity will present ‘significant cost saving opportunities’, albeit this will be hampered somewhat by the European regulatory framework.
‘The unique characteristics of the different European markets and the European regulatory framework in general will make realising larger savings more difficult,’ it said.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
