Strategy/Company/Ops Update

RNS Number : 3126A

Coca-Cola HBC AG

06 June 2016

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Coca-Cola HBC AG Investor Day

ENTERING THE GROWTH ERA

Coca-Cola HBC AG ("Coca-Cola HBC", "Company"), a leading bottler of the brands of The Coca-Cola Company, is hosting an investor event in London today, 6 June 2016, where management will present to investors and analysts on the Group's medium-term strategy.

The Company reported its first quarter trading update on 13 May 2016. No new trading information will be provided at the investor day. We will be discussing our plans to promote volume and value growth, and further improvements to operational efficiency.

In 2015 we delivered the best performance in five years in terms of volume growth and margin progression. We believe this reflects the underlying strengths of our organisation, including the flexibility to respond to evolving consumer trends and a dynamic retail landscape.

Looking ahead, we expect an improving external environment to support growth in our markets over the period to 2020, including average annual non-alcoholic ready-to-drink industry volume growth of approximately 1.5% across our territory. This stronger backdrop, combined with the inherent growth opportunities in our portfolio, underpins our aspirations for an acceleration of performance going forward. Assuming this level of industry volume growth, our medium-term growth targets include:

·     average annual revenue growth rate in the range 4-5% on a currency-neutral basis (2015: 2.9%);

·     a reduction in comparable operating expenses as a percentage of net sales revenue to 26-27% (2015: 29.2%); and

·     comparable EBIT¹ margin improvement to 11% (2015: 7.5%).

We reiterate our capital expenditure target as 5.5-6.5% of net sales revenue and our commitment to maintaining a negative working capital balance sheet position.

Dimitris Lois, Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola HBC AG, commented

"Over five years and in a difficult external environment, we have created a more efficient and stronger business that is now primed for growth in improving market conditions. We have a balanced spread of territories with structurally attractive characteristics and specific plans for growth. We have reflected these factors in our new targets, announced today, which illustrate our confidence in the medium-term potential of the business."

¹ Earnings before interest and tax

Webcast details

The presentations will be webcast live from 15:00 Swiss time onwards (14:00 London, 16:00 Athens and 9:00 New York time) on the company's website, www.coca-colahellenic.com/en/investors. The webcast should last about three hours and will also be available for replay after the event.

Enquiries

Coca‑Cola HBC Group Basak Kotler Investor Relations Director	Tel: [phone]  [e-mail]
Nikos Efstathopoulos Investor Relations Manager	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Caroline Crampton Investor Relations Manager	Tel : [phone] [e-mail]
International media contact: Teneo Rob Morgan Anushka Mathew	Tel: [phone]  [e-mail] [e-mail]
Greek media contact: V+O Communications Argyro Oikonomou	Tel: [phone]  [e-mail]

Disclaimer

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 2016 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 2015 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 the condensed consolidated financial statements included in this document, 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.

In the United Kingdom, this announcement and the information presented herein is only being distributed to and is only directed at persons that are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"); or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being "Relevant Persons"). Persons who are not Relevant Persons should not take any action on the basis of this announcement and should not act or rely on it.

Nothing in this press release should be construed as a profit forecast. There is no certainty over timing or probability of achieving these targets and they are dependent on a variety of assumptions and factors, both Coca-Cola HBC AG specific and otherwise.

About Coca‑Cola HBC

Coca-Cola HBC is a leading bottler of The Coca-Cola Company with a 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 594 million people. Coca-Cola HBC offers a diverse range of 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.

 

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