adminTHE Coca Cola Company missed its profitability targets last year, as consumers continued to reduce their appetite for sugary drinks and diet sodas.The company on Tuesday said its earnings fell 55 percent in the quarter that ended December 31, to $770 million, or 17 cents a share.
Revenue was somewhat higher than Wall Street had expected, falling two percent to $10,9 billion.
The company said currency fluctuations, charges related to its Venezuelan operations and the impact of selling off some of its bottling operations in North America hit its results hard. Earnings per share would have been 44 cents without those factors, Coke said.
“We remain resolutely focused on accelerating growth and taking advantage of opportunities to solidify our position in key markets and categories,” Muhtar Kent, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement.
“However, we continue to see 2015 as a transition year as the benefits from the announced initiatives will take time to materialise amid an uncertain and volatile macroeconomic environment.”
Sales of carbonated soft drinks, both with sugar and low calorie, were down in 2014, extending a decade-long string of declines, according to Beverage Digest. And over the last year, Coke has worked to diversify its beverage portfolio. It became the largest shareholder in Keurig Green Mountain, a leader in single-serve coffee devices and coffee pods. And it paid more than $2 billion for a stake in the energy drink maker Monster.
The month, it began distributing Fairlife, a long-life milk that is processed to eliminate lactose and reduce by half the amount of naturally occurring sugar. The milk, which costs roughly twice the price of regular milk, has added protein and calcium.
Nonetheless, the company faces restive investors like Wintergreen Advisers, which recently demanded that Coke take back management bonuses awarded in company shares and that the board resign.
Even Warren Buffett, a longtime Coca-Cola shareholder known for his patience with management, criticised the company’s compensation plans as excessive and out of line with past practices.
For the year, Coke’s sales fell to $46 billion, compared with $46.9 billion in 2013. Earnings tumbled 17 percent to $7.1 billion. – NewYork Times.
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