Bottler Coca-Cola HBC forecast a 7%-11% rise in 2025 organic operating profit, slower than last year, as a challenging macroeconomic environment clouded growth prospects.
Analysts, on average, had expected a 10.7% growth in 2025 organic earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), according to a company-compiled poll.
The company expects its organic revenue to grow 6% to 8% in the year, compared with average market expectations of 7.3%.
The Switzerland-based company reported an organic EBIT growth of 12.2% for the year ended 31 December 2024, above expectations of 11.9%.
Outlook
US beverage giant Coca-Cola, which owns more than 20% in the bottler, forecast a downbeat organic revenue growth for the year amid uncertainty fuelled by president Donald Trump's tariffs.
Zoran Bogdanovic, chief executive officer of Coca-Cola HBC, commented, “2024 demonstrated that we can achieve a consistently strong financial performance even in a range of market conditions.
“We continued to invest in our bespoke capabilities, driven by data, insights and analytics, to enable segmented and focused execution. We also made choices to further strengthen our 24/7 portfolio to drive
growth.[...]”
Annual Highlights
Coca-Cola HBC saw volumes in the sparkling category up by 1.5%, with trademark Coke registering growth in low-single digits and Coke Zero in mid-single digits.
The company delivered high-single-digit growth in the adult sparkling category, boosted by new flavours and package formats of Schweppes and Kinley, as well as the expansion of Three Cents to eleven additional markets.
Fanta and Sprite volumes saw a low-single-digit decline during the year.
Energy drinks volume grew by 30.2%, making 2024 the ninth year of consecutive double-digit growth.
The company achieved high-single-digit growth in established and developing markets, driven by the Monster brand.
Elsewhere, coffee volumes grew 23.9%, with growth across all segments, while stills volumes grew by 3.3%.
Premium spirits volumes grew by 31.8%, led by the developing segment.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
