US bottler Coca-Cola Consolidated has reported 3% year-on-year growth in net sales, to $1.8 billion (€1.7 billion), driven by volume growth in the sparkling category and pricing action taken during the first quarter of 2024.
Net sales in the sparkling and still segments increased by 5.8% and 1.7%, respectively, during the quarter.
Dave Katz, president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola Consolidated, stated, “Our third-quarter results reflect the power of sparkling volume growth, margin improvement, and continued strong commercial execution.
“Our sparkling revenue grew nearly 6% this quarter, reflecting the strength of our brands and the success of our price-and-package strategy. While we have opportunities to improve the performance of our Dasani and BodyArmor brands, we’re excited about upcoming still category offerings, designed to strengthen this segment of our business.”
Quarterly Highlights
Standard physical case volume went down by 2.1% in the third quarter, while sparkling category volume increased by 0.8%, driven by the strong performance of multi-serve can packages sold in large retail stores.
In the still category, physical case volume declined by 9.7% during the quarter.
Gross profit in the quarter amounted to $698 million (€639.9 million), reflecting an increase of 5.5%, compared to the same period last year, while gross margin improved by 90 basis points, to 39.5%.
J Frank Harrison III, chair and chief executive officer, commented, “Our third-quarter results reflect our steady focus on the operating fundamentals of our business.
“Strong commercial execution against our world-class beverage portfolio, disciplined expense management, and building on our purpose-driven culture are at the core of what we do every day.”
Nine-Month Performance
Net sales increased by 2.6%, to $5.2 billion, in the first nine months of 2024, while the standard physical case volume went down by 1.3%.
Income from operations increased by 7%, year on year, in this period, to $701.6 million (€643.2 million), while operating margin increased by 50 basis points, to 13.6%.
Net income increased to $454.2 million (€416.4 million) from $332.5 million (€304.8 million) in the prior-year period.
It was adversely impacted by the settlement of primary pension plan benefit liabilities during the prior year.
Coca-Cola Consolidated has shifted the distribution of case pack Dasani water sold in Walmart stores to a non-direct store delivery (DSD) method of distribution.
As a result, these cases are not included in the 2024 reported case sales, and this distribution change reduced the company’s reported case sales by 1.8% during the third quarter and 0.9% during the first nine months of the year.
