LONDON (Alliance News) - Coca-Cola HBC AG said Thursday it had a "solid" first quarter that saw its sales revenue and volumes increase.
For the quarter ended March 30, the soft-drinks bottling company achieved 4.5% currency-neutral net sales revenue growth to EUR1.35 billion from EUR1.30 billion. At actual exchange rates, net sales revenue declined 1.7% from EUR1.35 billion from EUR1.38 billion.
The volumes sold were up 2.3% to 453.2 million from 442.8 million, helped by the Easter holiday falling inside the first quarter this year. The company saw its developing segment volumes grow by 12%, driven by "very strong growth" in Poland.
Coca-Cola HBC's established segment grew by 1.1%, helped by the improved volumes in Ireland and Switzerland and "continued good growth" in Greece. Its emerging segment volumes were "broadly stable" a medium-sized markets within this division offset volume declines in Nigeria and Russia.
The foreign exchange-neutral revenue per case increased by 2.1% - largely down to the "rollover effect" of the company's 2017 price increases and mix improvements in the emerging and established segments.
Chief Executive Officer Zoran Bogdanovic said: "We are pleased to report a good start to the year in line with our expectations.
"Product innovation and our ongoing revenue growth management initiatives continue to deliver balanced growth through volume and price/mix improvements. With strong commercial plans in place and anticipated gradual economic recovery in Russia and Nigeria, we expect our revenue growth to accelerate as the year progresses."
Shares in Coca Cola HBC were up 2.1% Thursday morning to 2,518.00 pence each.
Coca-Cola HBC (CCH)