CONTINUING TO DELIVER EXCELLENT REVENUE GROWTH

RNS Number : 9809V

Coca-Cola HBC AG

09 November 2017

 

THIRD QUARTER 2017 TRADING UPDATE

CONTINUING TO DELIVER EXCELLENT REVENUE GROWTH

Coca-Cola HBC AG, a leading bottler of the brands of The Coca-Cola Company, today announces its 2017 Q3 trading update.

Third quarter highlights

·     Excellent revenue performance, with FX-neutral revenue growth of 6.0%

·     Strong quarter for volume growth, up 3.4%, with good broad-based improvements from all three segments

-  Established markets segment volume increased by 2.2% driven by our Southern European countries and supported by good weather

-  Developing markets segment volume increased by 5.1%, with particularly strong growth in Hungary and the Czech Republic and stabilisation in Poland

-  Emerging markets segment volume increased by 3.5%, with strong growth in Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. Volumes were stable in Russia, while Nigeria declined following significant price increases

·     FX-neutral revenue per case growth of 2.5% in the quarter, with continuing progress in all three segments

-  Established markets FX-neutral revenue per case grew by 1.1%, supported by our continued focus on growing revenue faster than volume and the emergence of a more inflationary environment

-  In the Developing markets, FX-neutral revenue per case grew by 2.1%, with a moderation from the first half price/mix trends as expected

-  Emerging markets FX-neutral revenue per case grew by 4.2%, driven by price increases taken earlier in the year and improvements in category and package mix

Q3 2017 vs. Q3 2016	Net sales revenue		Volume	Net sales revenue per unit case
growth (%)	FX-neutral1	Reported		FX-neutral1	Reported
Total Group	6.0	5.0	3.4	2.5	1.5
Established markets	3.3	2.5	2.2	1.1	0.2
Developing markets	7.3	9.1	5.1	2.1	3.8
Emerging markets	7.9	5.6	3.5	4.2	2.0

¹    For details on Alternative Performance Measures ('APMs') refer to 'Alternative Performance Measures' and 'Definitions and reconciliations of APMs' sections.

Michalis Imellos, Acting CEO and Group CFO, commented:

"We are very pleased with the strong revenue delivery in the quarter, well balanced between broad-based volume growth and substantial price/mix improvement. We go into the final quarter encouraged by our progress and confident in delivering on our expectations for the full year."

In memory of Dimitris Lois

It was with great sadness that we announced the sudden death of our CEO, Dimitris Lois, on the 2nd of October this year. Dimitris enjoyed an outstanding career at Coca-Cola HBC and his contribution over 10 years leaves a lasting legacy on the company and its people. Appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2011, he led Coca-Cola HBC with distinction and utmost dedication through a defining period in the company's history and touched the lives of thousands of colleagues across our territory. We are united in our gratitude and committed to continuing to build our business on the values he stood for.

The Board of Directors has a succession plan for the CEO position and there is a thorough process under way.  Further announcements will be made in due course.

Trading

We are pleased to report a strong set of results for the quarter, demonstrating the excellent performance of our increasingly consumer-centric portfolio in the market. 3.4% volume growth in the quarter is a testament to the strength of our execution in a broad range of countries. Incremental volumes in a number of markets in the Emerging and Developing segments and a hot summer in Southern Europe have supported volume growth, while Russia and Poland were stable and Nigeria declined.

A key pillar of our strategy is to focus on our chosen consumption occasions and prioritise the more valuable categories, packages and channels within each occasion. The ongoing roll-out of revenue growth initiatives, combined with price increases taken earlier in the year, resulted in price/mix improvements in all three segments, with Group FX-neutral revenue per unit case 2.5% ahead of the prior-year quarter. Net sales revenue growth was 6.0% on a currency-neutral basis and 5.0% on a reported basis compared to the prior-year quarter.

Established markets segment

Established markets volume grew by 2.2% in the quarter, compared to a 2.5% decline in the prior-year quarter. This year's strong performance benefited from a good tourist season and exceptionally warm summer weather in Italy and Greece. Low-calorie Sparkling drinks are advancing in line with our strategy, while full-sugar variants have declined.

Italy volume grew by low single digits, supported by the warm weather in July and August. The main driver of the growth was Water, following the successful implementation of our strategy to focus on our two main brands, Lilia and Sveva. Coca-Cola Zero was the only brand which grew in the otherwise declining sparkling drinks category. Energy continued to grow, driven mainly by Monster's good performance in the organised trade channel.

Volume in Greece increased by high single digits, supported by warm weather and the higher number of tourists visiting the country. Water continued its positive momentum and low-calorie Sparkling drinks grew, further helped by the launch of the new Coca-Cola with Stevia and no calories. Fanta, Schweppes and Monster performed well.  Macroeconomic conditions remain challenging, with some positive developments in the retail market.

Austria volume increased by low single digits, mainly driven by growth in Water and Energy. Sparkling drinks posted declines, with only Coca-Cola Zero and Fanta delivering a positive performance.

In Switzerland, volume declined marginally, with declines across most key categories. Good growth in the low-calorie variants, mainly Coca-Cola Zero and Fanta, was not enough to offset declines in Coca-Cola Regular and Water.

Net sales revenue in Established markets increased by 2.5% in the quarter. Volume growth and favourable pricing and package mix more than offset the negative impact from the higher contribution of Water, adverse channel mix and adverse FX impact due to the weaker Swiss Franc and British Pound. FX-neutral net sales revenue per case grew by 1.1% in the quarter.

Developing markets segment

Volume in Developing markets increased by 5.1%, compared to a 4.2% decline in the prior-year quarter, led by Sparkling and Water.

Volume in Poland was broadly stable, following a mid single-digit decline in the prior-year quarter. In a declining underlying market for Sparkling drinks, our portfolio achieved marginal growth in the quarter led by double-digit growth in Coke Zero, positive growth in Coca-Cola Regular and high single-digit growth in Fanta. Water volume increased by high single digits and Energy was extremely strong, helped by the increased distribution of Monster. Meanwhile Ready-to-Drink Tea declined in the mid-teens in an intensely competitive market.

In Hungary, volume was up high single digits compared to a mid single-digit decline in the prior-year period. All categories grew volume, with strong performance from Sparkling, up mid single digits, led by an extremely strong performance from Coke Zero and low-teens growth from Fanta. Water cycled weaker performance in the prior-year period with a mid-teens growth rate this quarter. Ready-to-Drink Tea showed very strong growth led by green tea and sugar-free flavours.

Volume in the Czech Republic grew by high single digits driven by low double-digit growth in Sparkling, with strong performance from Coca-Cola Regular, Coke Zero and Fanta.

Net sales revenue in Developing markets grew by 9.1% in the quarter where we benefited from strong volume, positive price and category mix and from the strengthening currencies in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. FX-neutral net sales revenue per case improved by 2.1%.

Emerging markets segment

Emerging markets volume increased by 3.5% as very strong growth in Romania, Serbia and Ukraine, along with stable volumes in Russia, more than offset the decline in Nigeria. Growth was led by mid single-digit growth in Sparkling and Water.

In Russia, volume was flat in the quarter, following a mid single-digit decline in the prior-year period. The rate of decline in the underlying non-alcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) market is decelerating in Russia, despite an unseasonably cold summer, and this has helped us stabilise our volume. Sparkling showed good growth, led by Coca-Cola Regular, Coke Zero, Sprite and Schweppes. Energy also contributed to growth, aided by the expanded distribution of Monster. These areas of positive performance were offset by Water, where we saw intense competitive activity from some local brands. Ready-to-Drink Tea saw a decline, as our focus on a smaller package size, supporting our value accretion efforts, had a negative impact on volume.

Nigerian volume declined mid single digits compared to an increase of 11% in the prior-year period. The level of volume decline in the quarter was in line with our expectations and reflects price increases, in excess of 30%, taken in the last twelve months, which have had an amplified effect during the low season in Nigeria. The PET packages of 35cl and 60cl launched in the second quarter at key price points are performing well and helping to preserve volume. Water continued its mid single-digit volume growth. Juice volume declined double digits in a difficult consumer environment.

In Romania, volume grew high single digits with all categories contributing positively except for Energy, where volume was broadly flat. Sparkling saw strong growth led by Coke Zero and Coca-Cola Regular. In Serbia volume grew low double digits with positive contributions from all categories.

Net sales revenue increased by 5.6% with positive contributions from volume, price, package and category mix, as well as a stronger Russian Rouble. This was partially offset by the impact of the weakening Nigerian Naira. FX neutral net sales revenue per case increased by 4.2%. The decline in the pace of growth from 8.6% in the first half is the result of cycling price increases taken at the end of the second quarter in 2016.

Category highlights

The third quarter, which represents the summer months in all markets except for Nigeria, saw the culmination of our efforts to accelerate innovation in products, flavours and packages. The new recipe for Coke Zero was well received and we supported Trademark Coke further with new variants such as Coke Zero Lemon,  Coca-Cola Regular Lime and Coca-Cola with Stevia and no calories.  In Fanta, we had the launch of the Fanta slider bottle, Fanta Instamix and the ongoing roll out of limited edition flavours in many of our countries. Schweppes Pomegranate in Russia proved a popular addition to the range. We continue to evolve our recipes and reduce our sugar footprint, while taking advantage of the biggest and most profitable consumption occasions for our diverse portfolio of sparkling and still beverages.

In Sparkling beverages, our volume was up 2.7%, following 1.1% growth in the prior-year period. All Developing and Emerging markets with the exception of Nigeria performed well, with significant contributions from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia and the Czech Republic.

Water volume grew by 7.4%, with high single-digit growth in all three segments. Good summer weather, a strong tourist season in Greece and our new streamlined water business in Italy helped to deliver this excellent result, which follows an 8.0% decline in the prior-year period. Juice volume declined by 1.8% in the quarter. While we have positive underlying trends for Juice in most of our markets, declines in Nigeria and Russia, and some product eliminations in Ireland have offset the growth achieved elsewhere. Energy continued its growth momentum and posted an increase of 24.1%. We continue to build Monster volume, which grew by 39.3% organically, and 43.8% including new market launches.

Ready-to-Drink Tea declined in the third quarter by 5.9%, with declines in all three segments. Major drivers of the decline were Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Greece, while Romania, Hungary and Serbia posted volume growth.

Single-serve contribution improved in the quarter, up 10 basis points. Established and Developing market segments improved their package mix as did most of the Emerging markets, although Nigeria impacted the latter negatively.

Supplementary information

	Third quarter	Third quarter	%	Nine months	Nine months	%
Group	2017	2016	Change	2017	2016	Change
Volume (m unit cases)	591.0	571.6	3.4%	1,611.9	1,578.9	2.1%
Net sales revenue (€ m)	1,822.0	1,735.3	5.0%	5,035.4	4,779.2	5.4%
Net sales revenue per unit case (€)	3.08	3.04	1.5%	3.12	3.03	3.2%
FX-neutral net sales revenue (€ m)	1,822.0	1,719.3	6.0%	5,035.4	4,761.4	5.8%
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case1 (€)	3.08	3.01	2.5%	3.12	3.02	3.6%
Established markets
Volume (m unit cases)	179.0	175.1	2.2%	478.2	472.0	1.3%
Net sales revenue (€ m)	693.9	677.3	2.5%	1,896.0	1,869.9	1.4%
Net sales revenue per unit case (€)	3.88	3.87	0.2%	3.96	3.96	0.1%
FX-neutral net sales revenue (€ m)	693.9	671.7	3.3%	1,896.0	1,862.4	1.8%
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case1 (€)	3.88	3.84	1.1%	3.96	3.95	0.5%
Developing markets
Volume (m unit cases)	111.3	105.9	5.1%	299.9	293.0	2.4%
Net sales revenue (€ m)	345.1	316.3	9.1%	902.5	843.1	7.0%
Net sales revenue per unit case (€)	3.10	2.99	3.8%	3.01	2.88	4.6%
FX-neutral net sales revenue (€ m)	345.1	321.6	7.3%	902.5	856.2	5.4%
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case1 (€)	3.10	3.04	2.1%	3.01	2.92	3.0%
Emerging markets
Volume (m unit cases)	300.7	290.6	3.5%	833.8	813.9	2.4%
Net sales revenue (€ m)	783.0	741.7	5.6%	2,236.9	2,066.2	8.3%
Net sales revenue per unit case (€)	2.60	2.55	2.0%	2.68	2.54	5.7%
FX-neutral net sales revenue (€ m)	783.0	726.0	7.9%	2,236.9	2,042.8	9.5%
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case1 (€)	2.60	2.50	4.2%	2.68	2.51	6.9%

¹    For details on APMs refer to 'Alternative Performance Measures' and 'Definitions and reconciliations of APMs' sections.

Coca-Cola HBC Group

Coca-Cola HBC is a leading bottler of The Coca-Cola Company with an annual sales volume of more than 2 billion unit cases. It has a broad geographic footprint with operations in 28 countries serving a population of approximately 595 million people. Coca-Cola HBC offers a diverse range of primarily non-alcoholic ready to drink beverages in the sparkling, juice, water, sport, energy, tea and coffee categories. Coca-Cola HBC is committed to promoting sustainable development in order to create value for its business and for society. This includes providing products that meet the beverage needs of consumers, fostering an open and inclusive work environment, conducting its business in ways that protect and preserve the environment and contribute to the socio-economic development of the local communities. Coca-Cola HBC is ranked beverage industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and Europe Indices and is also included in the FTSE4Good Index.

Coca-Cola HBC has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: CCH) and its shares are listed on the Athens Exchange (ATHEX: EEE). For more information, please visit http://www.coca-colahellenic.com.

Conference call

Coca-Cola HBC's will host a conference call for investors and analysts to discuss the trading update for the third quarter of 2017 on Thursday, 9 November 2017 at 09:00 am London Time. Interested parties can access the live, audio webcast of the call through Coca-Cola HBC's website (http://coca-colahellenic.com/en/investors/).

Next event

14 February 2018

Full-year financial report and results announcement

Enquiries

Coca‑Cola HBC Group Basak Kotler Investor Relations Director	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Joanna Kennedy Investor Relations Manager	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Vasso Aliferi Investor Relations Manager	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
International media contact: Teneo Blue Rubicon Rob Morgan Anushka Mathew	Tel: [phone] [e-mail] [e-mail]
Greek media contact: V+O Communications Argyro Oikonomou	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

Special Note Regarding the Information set out herein 

Unless otherwise indicated, this trading update and the financial and operating data or other information included herein relate to Coca-Cola HBC AG and its subsidiaries ("Coca-Cola HBC" or the "Company" or "we" or the "Group").

Forward-Looking Statements 

This document contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as "believe", "outlook", "guidance", "intend", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "target" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts, including, among others, statements regarding our future financial position and results, our outlook for 2017 and future years, business strategy and the effects of the global economic slowdown, the impact of the sovereign debt crisis, currency volatility, our recent acquisitions, and restructuring initiatives on our business and financial condition, our future dealings with The Coca-Cola Company, budgets, projected levels of consumption and production, projected raw material and other costs, estimates of capital expenditure, free cash flow, effective tax rates and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect our current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. Our actual results and events could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the risks described in the 2016 Integrated Annual Report for Coca-Cola HBC AG and its subsidiaries. Although we believe that, as of the date of this document, the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that our future results, level of activity, performance or achievements will meet these expectations. Moreover, neither we, nor our directors, employees, advisors nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. After the date of this trading update, unless we are required by law or the rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority to update these forward-looking statements, we will not necessarily update any of these forward-looking statements to conform them either to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

Alternative Performance Measures

The Group uses certain Alternative Performance Measures (''APMs'') in making financial, operating and planning decisions as well as in evaluating and reporting its performance. These APMs provide additional insights and understanding to the Group's underlying operating and financial performance. The APMs should be read in conjunction with and do not replace by any means the directly reconcilable International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") line items.

Definitions and reconciliations of APMs

FX-neutral APMs

The Group evaluates its operating and financial performance on an FX-neutral basis (i.e. without giving effect to the impact of variation of foreign currency exchange rates from period to period). FX-neutral APMs are calculated by adjusting prior period amounts for the impact of exchange rates applicable to the current period. FX-neutral measures enable users to focus on the performance of the business on a basis which is not affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates applicable to the Group's operating activities from period to period.

FX-neutral net sales revenue and FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case

FX-neutral net sales revenue and FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case are calculated by adjusting prior-period net sales revenue for the impact of changes in exchange rates applicable in the current period.

The calculations of the FX-neutral net sales revenue and FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case and the reconciliation to the most directly related measures calculated in accordance with IFRS is as follows:

Reconciliation of FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case (numbers in € million unless otherwise stated)

	Third quarter 2017
	Established	Developing	Emerging	Consolidated
Net sales revenue	693.9	345.1	783.0	1,822.0
Currency impact	-	-	-	-
FX-neutral net sales revenue	693.9	345.1	783.0	1,822.0
Volume (m unit cases)	179.0	111.3	300.7	591.0
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case (€)	3.88	3.10	2.60	3.08
	Third quarter 2016
	Established	Developing	Emerging	Consolidated
Net sales revenue	677.3	316.3	741.7	1,735.3
Currency impact	(5.6)	5.3	(15.7)	(16.0)
FX-neutral net sales revenue	671.7	321.6	726.0	1,719.3
Volume (m unit cases)	175.1	105.9	290.6	571.6
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case (€)	3.84	3.04	2.50	3.01
	Nine months 2017
	Established	Developing	Emerging	Consolidated
Net sales revenue	1,896.0	902.5	2,236.9	5,035.4
Currency impact	-	-	-	-
FX-neutral net sales revenue	1,896.0	902.5	2,236.9	5,035.4
Volume (m unit cases)	478.2	299.9	833.8	1,611.9
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case (€)	3.96	3.01	2.68	3.12
	Nine months 2016
	Established	Developing	Emerging	Consolidated
Net sales revenue	1,869.9	843.1	2,066.2	4,779.2
Currency impact	(7.5)	13.1	(23.4)	(17.8)
FX-neutral net sales revenue	1,862.4	856.2	2,042.8	4,761.4
Volume (m unit cases)	472.0	293.0	813.9	1,578.9
FX-neutral net sales revenue per unit case (€)	3.95	2.92	2.51	3.02

 

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