Coca-Cola HBC’s third-quarter results, published on Thursday, show another period of strong organic revenue growth for the bottler giant.
Organic revenue growth of 13.9% and year-to-date revenue growth of 13.7% resulted from increased sales across all categories, as well as summer sporting and music event partnerships.
Volume sales went up by 4%, overall, with priority categories including sparkling, energy and coffee drinks up by 3.9%, 28% and 35.6%, respectively.
Across sparkling volumes, trademark Coke grew by low single digits and Coke Zero grew by mid-single digits, due to a partnership with the Coca-Cola Company to capitalise on the summer with music and sport, particularly in the out-of-home channel through the season.
Growth Across Segments
Fanta grew by mid-single digits, with growth across all segments.
The report noted that innovation remains critical to drive consumer recruitment, with launches including new Coke Creations flavours and Fanta Beetlejuice in the period, while also benefitting from Marvel activations in targeted markets.
Energy volumes grew by 28.0%, with good growth across all segments, driven by Monster, with the ongoing roll-out of Monster Green Zero.
Predator and Fury – in Nigeria and Egypt, respectively – experienced continued strong growth.
Key Markets
Coffee volumes grew by 35.6%, with strong growth in all three segments. Growth of both Costa Coffee and Caffè Vergnano continued to be driven by the out-of-home segment, in line with plans.
Still volumes grew by 3.4%, and water grew by mid-single digits, while juices declined by low single digits.
Sports drinks continued to grow strongly, up by the high teens in the quarter, as the company leveraged the Olympic Games with Powerade and continued to place dedicated coolers in key markets.
Ready-to-drink tea grew by mid-single digits in the period.
Strategic Priorities
Zoran Bogdanovic, chief executive officer of Coca-Cola HBC, commented, “Focused execution of our strategic priorities has helped deliver another quarter of strong revenue growth, up 13.9%, with good volume momentum across all three segments, as well as revenue-per-case expansion.
“I am pleased that our Q3 results build on the strength of our first half and clearly demonstrate how our 24/7 portfolio, combined with our bespoke capabilities, can deliver quality growth in a range of market conditions.
“We are mindful of macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, as well as a mixed consumer environment. However, reflecting our strong performance in the first nine months and our confidence that we can continue to win in the marketplace, we are updating our guidance for the year.
“I would like to thank our teams for their hard work and agility, and our customers, suppliers, the Coca-Cola Company, and all other partners for their collaboration. I look forward to working together to deliver on our ambitions for 2024 and prepare for the years ahead.”
