The fourth quarter of 2022 went better than initially expected for the beverage giant from Atlanta. Will this development continue in the current year?
The US beverage giant Coca-Cola has implemented and earned significantly more than expected thanks to price increases at the end of the year. Without acquisitions and exchange rate effects, sales in the fourth quarter increased by 15 percent to 10.1 billion US dollars (9.4 billion euros), as announced by the Atlanta-based company. That was significantly better than analysts had expected.
The group’s operating profit increased by almost a quarter to $ 2.1 billion compared to the same quarter last year. The bottom line was that profits went to the shareholders around 2 billion dollars after around 2.4 billion in the previous year. Coca-Cola shares rose slightly in premarket trading.
In the current year, however, sales development is likely to slow down. The group management expects an organic increase in revenue of 7 to 8 percent in 2023. In 2022, Coca-Cola had increased its sales by 16 percent to $43 billion. Comparable earnings per share (EPS) are expected to rise 4 to 5 percent in 2023 from $2.48 a year earlier.
Source: Stern
