Coca-Cola profit tops view; shares rise

NEW YORK (Reuters) –

Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) reported

better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday before

one-time items, helped by the weak dollar, and its shares rose

1.6 percent in premarket trade.

The world’s largest soft-drink maker said net income was

$1.42 billion, or 61 cents per share, in the second quarter

ended June 27, compared with $1.85 billion, or 80 cents per

share, a year earlier.

Excluding a charge of 40 cents per share at bottler

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc (CCE.N), which is about 35

percent-owned by Coca-Cola, the company earned $1.01 per share.

Analysts’ average earnings forecast was 96 cents per share,

according to Reuters Estimates.

Net operating revenue for the quarter rose 17 percent to

$9.05 billion.

Coca-Cola, which derives about 70 percent of its revenue

from outside North America, said 9 percentage points of the

revenue increase was due to the weak dollar, which boosts the

value of international sales when they are converted to dollars

for inclusion in the company’s financial statements.

The revenue rise included 3 percentage points from higher

sales of drink concentrate, 2 points from bottler acquisitions,

and 3 points from higher prices and more sales of higher-priced

products.

Overall unit case volume rose 3 percent, led by a 5 percent

increase in markets abroad. North American volume was flat.

The company said sales growth was strong in Latin America,

China, Turkey, India, Eastern Europe, Southern Eurasia, the

Middle East and North and West Africa. Volume fell 1 percent in

Japan and the European Union.

Like other soft-drink makers, Coke’s U.S. sales have slowed

as consumers grapple with soaring food and fuel costs,

declining home values and job uncertainty. Also, increasingly

health-conscious consumers have been opting for drinks seen as

good for you, such as bottled teas or vitamin-enhanced waters.

The company, whose brands include Minute Maid juice,

Powerade sports drink and Dasani bottled water, said it is

targeting $400 million to $500 million in annual cost-savings

by the end of 2011.

Coke shares rose to $53.20 in premarket trading, up from a

close at $52.34 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Derek Caney and

John Wallace)