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(Alliance News) - Coca-Cola European Partners PLC on Thursday said profit rose significantly in its first half as higher volume, better revenue per unit case, and multiple product launches all helped drive revenue.
For the six months ended June 28, the independent Coca-Cola bottler posted a EUR678 million pretax profit, jumping 21% from EUR560 million the year before.
Revenue for the period rose 6.6% to EUR5.80 billion from EUR5.44 billion, helped by a 3.0% rise in comparable volume as well as a 4.5% rise in revenue per unit case. Unit case revenue was helped by a more favourable price and package mix, including a 17% increase in small cans volume, the company said.
In addition, there were multiple product launches in the period such as Coca-Cola Energy, Honest Lemonade, and Monster Espresso.
Coca-Cola European Partners reaffirmed its annual guidance saying it continues to expect low single-digit revenue growth, excluding soft drink taxes. Cost of sales per unit case is set to growth 2.5% excluding soft drink taxes.
For 2019, the company is predicting operating profit growth of between 6% and 7%. The comparable tax rate is expected to be 25% and diluted earnings per share is set to grow 10% to 11%. Free cash flow is likely to be in the EUR1.0 billion to EUR1.1 billion range with capital expenditure set to be around EUR525 million to EUR575 million. Return on invested capital is to rise by roughly 40 basis points.
An up to EUR1 billion share buyback is planned for the year.
The bottler has lifted its interim dividend per share by 19% to EUR0.62, having paid dividends totalling EUR0.52 per share a year before.
Chief Executive Damian Gammell said: "We have delivered a good first-half performance, reflecting our continued focus on driving profitable revenue growth through price and mix realisation and solid in market execution, alongside the successful closure of our merger commitments. We remain focused on building this momentum, albeit following a strong third quarter last year, including scaling up on some of our exciting innovations like Coke Energy and the recently launched Costa ready-to-drink coffee in Great Britain.
"We are today reaffirming our full-year guidance for 2019. We remain confident in our annual growth objectives over the mid-term, which make for an attractive investment story underpinned by a strong and flexible balance sheet. This, alongside healthy dividend growth and the continuation of our share buyback programme, collectively demonstrate our focus on delivering sustainable value for our shareholders."
Coca-Cola European Partners operates in western Europe, including France, Belgium, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
Shares in Coca-Cola European Partners were untraded at EUR49.08 in London on Thursday morning. The company, which also is listed in NY, has a market capitalisation of USD25.49 billion, making it bigger than FTSE 100 peer Coca-Cola HBC PLC.