By Stelios Bouras
ATHENS--Greece's Coca-Cola HBC AG (EEE.AT) on Thursday reported
a small rise in second-quarter net profit, but warned that
geopolitical tension in Ukraine will make the rest of the year even
more challenging.
In a statement, the company said comparable second-quarter net
profit rose 6% to 135 million euros ($180 million). Revenue for the
same period fell 5% from a year earlier to EUR1.8 billion.
The No. 2 bottler of Coca-Cola Co. (KO) products with presence
in 28 countries, Coca-Cola HBC said, "There is increasing evidence
that the trading conditions we have seen so far are unlikely to
improve during 2014."
"Although macroeconomic forecasts are being revised marginally
upwards in some of the countries where we operate, unemployment
levels remain high and disposable income is still constrained.
Moreover, the escalation of the geopolitical situation in Russia
and Ukraine has affected consumer spending in this region," it said
in a statement.
Comparable earnings per share for the second quarter rose 9% to
EUR0.37, it added.
Write to Stelios Bouras at stelios.bouras@wsj.com
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