Top story
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has seen sales grow ahead of volumes in the third quarter as a result of mixed weather across Europe, higher prices and lapping strong comparatives last year.
Revenues at the group increased 1.5% to €4.8bn in the period ended 29 September, while revenue per unit case grew 9% to €5.83, driven by positive headline price increases and promotional optimisation alongside favourable brand mix.
However, volumes declined 4.5% at the bottler in the quarter to 846 million units, compared with 12% growth a year ago. The group blamed a poor summer across European markets and SKU rationalisation and soft consumer spending in Indonesia offsettiong growth in Australia and New Zealand, which hosted the Women’s World Cup.
CEO Damian Gammell said 2023 continued to be “a strong year” for CCEP, “reflecting great brands, solid in-market execution and strong customer relationships”.
“Our focus on revenue and margin growth management, along with our price and promotion strategy, drove solid gains in revenue per unit case,” he added. “Transactions outpaced volume and we grew both share and household penetration across our markets. Given our strong year to date performance, we are reaffirming our full-year guidance and declaring a full-year dividend up almost 10% on last year. This demonstrates the strength of our business and ability to continue to deliver shareholder value.”
In Great Britain, sales increased 3% to €853m but volumes declined. The group highlighted 10% volume growth of the Monster brand and said the launch of Jack Daniels & Coke also contributed to growth.
“Looking to next year and beyond, we remain confident in the resilience of our categories, despite ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility,” Gammell said.
Morning update
Heineken has appointed a new president for its European region to succeed Soren Hagh, who is leaving the Dutch brewer at the end of the year.
Glenn Caton joins the group’s executive team from Mondelez, where he is currently senior vice president of global commerce, on 1 January and will report into CEO Dolf van den Brink.
Caton has spent 10 years with the US confectionery group, where he started as VP fof chocolate in Northern Europe before being promoted to president of the region in 2016. He started his career at P&G, where he worked for 9 years based in the UK and Geneva in roles across sales and marketing.
“Glenn brings great experience of operating across different sectors, regions and cultures,” ven den Brink said.
“He has driven growth and innovation and delivered consistently strong results leading businesses in fmcg, financial services, direct-to-consumer and retail. He is an entrepreneurial, highly commercial, and creative leader who has demonstrated a clear ability to build highly motivated teams that drive for results and deliver change.
“He will be a great addition to Heineken and our executive team, and I very much look forward to working with him.”
Glanbia has raised its full-year earnings guidance thanks to a strong outlook for the final quarter of 2023.
It comes as the nutrition group reported a 9.1% fall in revenues in the third quarter as growth at the Performance Nutrition (GPN) division was offset by decline in Glanbia Nutritionals (GN).
Like-for-like branded revenue increased by 3% at GPN, reflecting a price increase of 8.9% and a volume decline of 5.9%, while GN like-for-like revenue declined 14%, reflecting a volume decline of 6.4% and a price decline of 7.6%.
MD Siobhán Talbot said: “I am pleased to announce that Glanbia has continued to deliver good momentum during the third quarter which, together with a strong outlook for the remainder of the year, today results in an upgrade in expected growth in full year adjusted earnings per share to between 17% and 20% on a constant currency basis.
“The group’s portfolio of better nutrition brands and ingredients continues to resonate strongly with consumers seeking health and wellness, with a particular focus on protein.”
The FTSE 100 opened 0.1% higher to 7,327.14pts this morning.
Shares in Glanbia jumped 3.8% to €14.90 on the back of the profits upgrade.
Early risers included Hilton Food Group, up 4.8% to 684p, Naked Wines, up 3.5% to 221.2p, and M&S, up 2% to 221.2p.
Fallers included Real Good Food, losing 8.3% to 1.7p following big gains yesterday, and Ocado, down 2.2% to 455.1p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% to 7,321.72pts yesterday.
Brewing giant AB InBev soared 5.3% higher to €53.54 after it stuck to EBITDA guidance in a solid third quarter.
Rival brewer Carlsberg fell 0.9% to 840 kroner as volumes remained under pressure in the most recent trading period.
And Coca-Cola HBC also dropped 0.3% to 2,136p despite double-digit growth.
Elsewhere, risers included Real Good Food, which flew 67% higher to 2p after a trading update showed the embattled group was reducing its losses, Deliveroo, up 8% to 130.5p thanks to it pricing a tender offer to give £250m back to shareholders, and THG, up 5.6% to 69.7p.
WH Smith, Science in Sport and AG Barr all fell, down 2.5% to 1,161p, 1.8% to 12p and 1.2% to 489p respectively.
No comments yet