The Coca‑Cola Company Reports Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2012 Results

Strong 4% global volume growth for the full year

Worldwide brand Coca‑Cola growth of 3% for the full year

Volume and value share gains continue in nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages
 

Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2012 Highlights

- Strong full-year global volume growth of 4%, in line with our long-term growth target and led by brand Coca‑Cola, up 3%.  Global volume grew 3% in the quarter, driven by international volume growth of 4% and North America volume growth of 1%.   

- Full-year reported net revenues grew 3% and comparable currency neutral net revenues grew 6%, in line with our long-term growth target.  Fourth quarter reported net revenues grew 4% and comparable currency neutral net revenues grew 5%.

- Full-year reported and comparable currency neutral operating income both grew 6%, in line with our long-term growth target.  Fourth quarter reported operating income grew 12% and comparable currency neutral operating income grew 14%.

- Currency was a 3% headwind on comparable net revenues and a 5% headwind on comparable operating income for the full year.

- Full-year reported EPS was $1.97, up 6%, and comparable EPS was $2.01, up 5%.  Fourth quarter reported EPS was $0.41, up 14%, and comparable EPS was $0.45, up 15%.

- Full-year cash from operations was up 12%.

- Evolution of global bottling system continues, with bottler-led consolidation announced in Japan and Brazil, and a majority interest in our Philippine bottling operations sold to Coca‑Cola FEMSA (transaction completed in January 2013).

ATLANTA, Feb. 12, 2013 – The Coca‑Cola Company today reported full-year and fourth quarter 2012 results.  Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca‑Cola Company said, “We are pleased with our results we announced today. In a year marked by continued uncertainty in the global economy, we delivered solid volume, revenue and profit growth, and we realized further volume and value share gains in nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages. The Coca‑Cola Company has consistently delivered quality results and met or exceeded its long-term volume, revenue and profit growth targets every year since the announcement of our 2020 Vision at the end of 2009. This reflects the commitment of our entire system to invest together for a better tomorrow and to sustainably create shared value while making a positive difference in the communities we serve.  Together we are delivering on our priorities and achieving success.

“As we enter 2013 in what is still an uncertain global economy, we know that it is critical to seize the opportunity to keep leading and succeeding in any environment.  We must continue investing in our business so that we get even better –better at collaborating, at innovating, at listening to consumers, customers and our bottling partners and most importantly, at executing with precision.  All of us at Coca‑Cola remain diligent about our results as we manage our business for continued sustainable long-term success,”continued Mr. Kent.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

The Coca‑Cola Company reported worldwide volume growth of 4% for the full year and 3% in the quarter.  The Company reported solid growth for the full year in key developed markets, including North America (+2%) and Japan (+2%).  Europe volume declined 1% for the full year, reflecting ongoing uncertain macroeconomic conditions.  In addition, the Company delivered strong volume growth in key emerging markets such as Thailand (+22%), India (+16%) and Russia (+8%) for the full year.  Our China business delivered 4% volume growth for the full year, cycling double-digit growth in the prior year, and was impacted by the further effects of a slowing economy, poor weather and a later Chinese New Year.  Solid growth continued in countries with per capita consumption of Company brands less than 150 eight-ounce servings per year, with volume up 7% for the full year.

For both the full year and the quarter, we grew global volume and value share in nonalcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverages, with volume and value share gains across nearly every beverage category.  Further, our immediate consumption volume grew a solid 5% globally in 2012, leading to transaction growth of 5%, driven by focused in-store activation efforts and cold-drink equipment expansion.  In addition to increasing the total placement of our branded cold-drink equipment to more than 14 million units as of the end of 2012, our global system remains focused on innovations in cooler design, cost efficiency and effectiveness, and sustainability.  We have achieved a 40% to 50% improvement in energy efficiency in new equipment placed today compared to equipment placed in 2000, and we maintain our commitment to placing HFC-free units around the world.

Worldwide sparkling beverage volume grew 3% for the full year and 1% in the quarter.  This represents approximately 550 million incremental unit cases in 2012, or the equivalent of adding 13.2 billion new servings to our global business.  We grew volume and value share in global core sparkling beverages for the full year and in the quarter, led by brand Coca‑Cola and reflecting a balanced portfolio approach to growth in the core sparkling beverage category.  Worldwide brand Coca‑Cola volume grew 3% for the full year, with growth across diverse markets, including India (+33%), Thailand (+31%), Russia (+20%), the Philippines (+8%), Brazil (+3%) and Mexico (+3%).  In addition, Fanta volume grew 5% and Sprite volume grew 4% for the full year, as we activated global marketing campaigns in locally relevant ways such as the Fanta Play campaign, now in nearly 200 markets, and the Sprite Uncontainable Game NBA partnership.

Worldwide still beverage volume grew 10% for the full year and 9% in the quarter, with growth across beverage categories, including packaged water, ready-to-drink tea and coffee, juices and juice drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks.  Excluding the impact of acquisitions, still beverage volume grew 8% for the full year and 7% in the quarter.  We grew global volume and value share in still beverages and delivered volume and value share gains across nearly every still beverage category.

Ready-to-drink tea volume grew 14% for the full year and 16% in the quarter, with continued strong performance of key brands such as Gold Peak and Honest Tea in North America, Ayataka green tea in Japan and Fuze Tea, which we continued to expand across many markets worldwide during the year.  Packaged water volume grew 12% for both the full year and the quarter, driven by our focus on innovative and sustainable packaging and immediate consumption occasions.  Our PlantBottleTM PET packaging is now present in 10 countries that represent more than 50% of our global packaged water business.  Energy drink volume grew 20% for the full year and 12% in the quarter, driven by growth across our global portfolio of energy brands, with burn now available in 75 countries.

In 2012, I LOHAS water and Ayataka green tea in Japan became our fourth and fifth new billion-dollar brands since the announcement of our 2020 Vision, building on our strong portfolio of brands across beverage categories, occasions and geographies.

NOTES

- All references to growth rate percentages, share and cycling of growth rates compare the results of the period to those of the prior year comparable period.

-“Concentrate sales”represents the amount of concentrates, syrups, beverage bases and powders sold by, or used in finished beverages sold by, the Company to its bottling partners or other customers.

-“Sparkling beverages”means NARTD beverages with carbonation, including energy drinks and carbonated waters and flavored waters.

- “Still beverages”means nonalcoholic beverages without carbonation, including non-carbonated waters, flavored waters and enhanced waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees, sports drinks and non-carbonated energy drinks.

- All references to volume and volume percentage changes indicate unit case volume, except for the reference to volume included in the explanation of net revenue growth for North America.  All volume percentage changes are computed based on average daily sales for the fourth quarter, unless otherwise noted, and are computed on a reported basis for the full year.  “Unit case”means a unit of measurement equal to 24 eight-ounce servings of finished beverage.  “Unit case volume”means the number of unit cases (or unit case equivalents) of Company beverages directly or indirectly sold by the Company and its bottling partners to customers.

- For both North America and Bottling Investments Group, net revenue growth attributable to volume reflects the increase in “as reported”volume, which is based on as reported sales rather than average daily sales and may include the impact of structural changes.  For North America, this volume represents Coca‑Cola Refreshments' unit case sales (which are equivalent to concentrate sales) plus concentrate sales to non-Company-owned bottling operations.

- Fourth quarter 2012 financial results were impacted by two additional selling days, which offset the impact of one less selling day in first quarter 2012 results.  Unit case volume results for the quarters are not impacted by the variance in selling days due to the average daily sales computation referenced above.

- Due to the refocusing in 2012 of the Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW) ready-to-drink tea joint venture with Nestlé S.A. (Nestlé), we have eliminated the BPW joint venture volume and associated concentrate sales from our reported results for both 2011 and 2012 in those countries in which the joint venture was phased out during 2012.  In addition, we have eliminated the Nestea licensed volume and associated concentrate sales in the U.S. due to our U.S. license agreement with Nestlé terminating at the end of 2012.  These changes did not materially impact the Company's reported volume results for fourth quarter or full-year 2012 on a consolidated basis or for any individual operating group.  However, these changes increased the Company's reported fourth quarter and full-year 2012 volume for still beverages by 2 points in both periods, and ready-to-drink tea by 18 points and 11 points, respectively.

- The Company reports its financial results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP). However, management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures provide users with additional meaningful financial information that should be considered when assessing our ongoing performance.  Management also uses these non-GAAP financial measures in making financial, operating and planning decisions and in evaluating the Company's performance.  Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative for, the Company's reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial information does not represent a comprehensive basis of accounting.

About The Coca‑Cola Company

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca‑Cola, the world's most valuable brand, our Company's portfolio features 15 billion-dollar brands including Diet Coke®, Fanta®, Sprite®, Coca‑Cola® Zero™, vitaminwater®, Powerade®, Minute Maid®, Simply™, Georgia™ and Del Valle®. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.8 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates. For more information, visit www.coca-colacompany.com/, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CocaColaCo or find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company/.