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Eastern European Coke bottle Coca-Cola HBC has posted a strong rebound in growth despite facing a “turbulent environment” due to disruption in major markets of Ukraine and Russia.
In the first three months of 2022 organic sales jumped 24.2% driven by continued reopening of societies following Covid restrictions last year.
Organic revenue growth excluding Russia and Ukraine was up 25.9% as the company follows The Coca-Cola Company’s decision to suspend its Russian business and CCH stopped placing orders in the country on 8 March.
It saw strong volume growth of 11.3%, which was broad based with sparkling up 10%, low/no sugar sparkling up 45%, adult sparkling 23% and energy 32%.
Pricing and other revenue growth management actions drove organic revenue per case growth of 11.6% with improving category, package and channel mix.
CHH said all three segments executed on pricing plans to manage increased inflationary pressures with no negative impact on volumes.
Established markets volume grew 9.6%, with performance was led by double-digit growth in stills, mainly driven by Water, which benefited from strong execution and cycling soft comparatives in the out-of-home channel.
Developing markets volume grew by 24%, driven by sparkling, as it saw strong results in low- and no-sugar variants and adult sparkling.
As previously announced, it said it is working with The Coca-Cola Company on the implementation of the decision to suspend its business in Russia. On 8 March it stopped placing orders for concentrate in Russia and ceased investments in the market.
As a consequence, guidance for the current financial year remains withdrawn
It also continues to provide urgent support and financial relief to our people and their families impacted by conflict and the human tragedy in Ukraine. Together with The Coca-Cola Company, The Coca-Cola Foundation and other bottlers, it has committed $15m to support humanitarian relief efforts in the region.
CEO Zoran Bogdanovic commented: “We are deeply distressed by the unspeakable tragedy and ongoing human suffering in Ukraine. We stand with our colleagues and all those affected.
“Alongside this, the people of Coca-Cola HBC have continued to execute our growth strategy, delivering strong top line growth which was well balanced between volume and revenue per case.
“The inflationary environment has only intensified since our last set of results, and this is why I am so pleased to see the effective use of our revenue growth management capabilities, including pricing, visible in our performance.
“We have high confidence in our portfolio, evolving route to market, customer-focused commercial strategy, the potential of our diverse markets, and above all, the capability of our people. We remain agile as we prioritise our investments, with discipline, across the rest of our markets to continue to drive sustainable growth despite the uncertain environment.”
Morning update
On the markets this morning the FTSE 100 has slumped 2.1% back to 7,194.7pts after a poor day of trading in the US.
Early fallers include Deliveroo, down 7.1% to 81.5p, Cranswick, down 6.9% to 2,872p, Just Eat Takeaway.com, down 5.5% to 1,437.4p and Ocado, down 5.3% to 723.4p.
Risers include Nichols, up 3.7% to 1,405p and Coca-Cola HBC, up 0.2% to 1,600.5p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 ended the day up another 1.4% to 7,347.6pts as the market recovery from Monday continued.
Compass Group was one of the major FTSE 100 risers as it upped its revenue expectations after a second quarter that rebounded back to pre-Covid levels. It ended the day up 7.4% to 1,694p.
Elsewhere, risers included SSP Group, up 6.9% to 222.1p, Naked Wines, up 5.1% to 344.8p, WH Smith, up 4.7% to 1,438.5p, C&C Group, up 4.6% to 196.5p, THG, up 4.1% to 107.9p, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, up 3.7% to €47.40 and Bakkavor, up 3.3% to 102.8p.
The day’s fallers included Hotel Chocolat, down 4.6% to 315p, Ocado, down 3.4% to 764.2p, Nichols, down 3.2% to 1,355p, Glanbia, down 1.8% to €11.78 and Premier Foods, down 1.3% to 103.4p.
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