The departure of Coca-Cola president and chief operating officer Jack Stahl just 11 months after he took up the high profile post has taken analysts by surprise. Stahl resigned after a top level shake-up at the soft drinks giant divided Coke into four operating units with bosses reporting directly to chief executive Douglas Daft. The rejig made Stahl's position redundant. New posts have been created to head four business units covering the Americas, Asia, Europe/Africa and New Business Ventures'. But most observers were left unimpressed by the changes. "Generally the feeling is one of disappointment," said one US equities analyst. "The markets were pleased with Stahl. You get the feeling that this is a fudge so the books can be divided up into mature markets, growth markets and so on. It doesn't really fulfil the think local, act local' pledge." But Daft said: "Jack Stahl and I held a lengthy discussion about the exciting potential of this new model. Jack concluded that, having helped Coca-Cola reset its agenda and priorities, he wanted to seek challenges elsewhere." Analysts were sceptical about Coke's chances of achieving its target of between 6% and 7% volume growth given its dependence on cola in a drinks industry where the biggest rewards are now in non carbonates. Gerrard analyst Andy Penman felt Coke could probably achieve its targets but added: "Seven per cent is not that stunning anyway". Coke's recent tie ups with Procter & Gamble and Nestlé to drive sales and develop new products in the non carbonates sector were a step in the right direction, said analysts. They believe there is a limit to the extent to which aggressive marketing and pricing can drive sales of carbonates in mature markets where "brand Coke" has lost its edge. {{NEWS }}

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