Volumes and profits rise comfortably for Coca-Cola European Partners

Coca-Cola European Partners reported a 2% improvement in volumes in its first half on Thursday, to 1.21 billion cases, while its revenue grew by 7% to a reported €5.8bn.

The London-listed soft drinks bottler said its cost of sales rose 7.5% on a reported basis to €3.59bn, while its operating expenses shrank 0.5% to €1.48bn.

That made for an operating profit of €726m for the six months ended 28 June, up 20% year-on-year, while its profit after tax was 22% higher at €508m.

Diluted earnings per share were ahead 25.5% on a reported basis at 107 euro cents, and the board recommended an interim dividend of 62 cents per share, which was 19% higher than the distribution paid for the first half of 2018.

“We are one of the world's largest beverage companies with both a solid track record of performance as well as an exciting future, supported by a 24,000 strong team of talented and engaged people,” said chief executive officer Damian Gammell.

“We are fortunate to have the world's best non-alcoholic ready-to-drink brands where we have a leading position within our dynamic and growing market.

“We are taking the decisions today to invest in the capabilities that we know we will need to win tomorrow.”

Gammell said that was underpinned by an “aligned relationship” with the Coca-Cola Company, and a “strong” sustainability agenda, particularly around packaging, where he said the firm was “taking action” and “leading innovation”.

“We have delivered a good first-half performance, reflecting our continued focus on driving profitable revenue growth through price and mix realisation and solid in market execution, alongside the successful closure of our merger commitments.

“We remain focused on building this momentum, albeit following a strong third quarter last year, including scaling up on some of our exciting innovations like Coke Energy and the recently launched Costa ready-to-drink coffee in Great Britain.”

Gammell said the company was reaffirming its full-year guidance for 2019.

“We remain confident in our annual growth objectives over the mid-term, which make for an attractive investment story underpinned by a strong and flexible balance sheet.

“This, alongside healthy dividend growth and the continuation of our share buyback programme, collectively demonstrate our focus on delivering sustainable value for our shareholders.”