Rival bottlers Coca-Cola HBC and Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) have reported solid rises in annual profits, with HBC also forecasting a faster growth in volume across its segments in 2020.
HBC Result
HBC, which bottles and sells Coca-Cola Co drinks in 28 countries, said that demand in emerging markets such as Nigeria and Romania helped operating profit rise 11.9% to €715.3 million for the year that ended on December 31, 2019.
"According to external forecasts for 2020, the economic outlook in our territories continues to be healthy and this we expect will support the final year of our 2020 plan," the company said.
It expects faster growth in its established and developing countries segments, which were affected by unfavourable weather in 2019.
The Swiss-based company said that restructuring initiatives from last year and those set to be rolled in 2020 together are expected to yield €32 million of total benefits in 2020.
CCEP Result
Separately, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) reported an annual operating profit of €1.55 billion compared with €1.3 billion last year.
US-based Coca-Cola Co owns a 23.2% stake in Coca-Cola HBC and a 19.11% stake in Coca-Cola European Partners, according to Refinitiv data.
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