COCA-COLA HBC A.G.: Half-yearly financial report - SOLID RESULTS; FULL YEAR EXPECTATIONS UNCHANGED

Half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 28 June 2019

SOLID RESULTS; FULL YEAR EXPECTATIONS UNCHANGED

Coca-Cola HBC AG, a leading bottler of The Coca-Cola Company, reports its financial results for the six months ended 28 June 2019.

Half-year highlights

• Solid H119 currency-neutral revenue growth of 3.4%, cycling exceptionally strong growth in Q218
• Unseasonably wet and cold weather conditions in the second quarter were a headwind to revenue growth in all segments; warmer weather in the second half of June drove stronger performance
• Currency-neutral revenue per case up 1.2% in the first half, showed an improvement in the second quarter driven by Europe, with positive contributions from pricing, as well as category and package mix
• Volume growth of 2.2% in the first half, with 2.4% growth in Sparkling

-         Volume in the Established markets increased by 0.4%; encouragingly positive performance in Italy

-         Developing markets volumes grew by 1.4%; challenging comparable in the prior-year period

-         Emerging markets volumes grew by 3.4%; continued strong growth in Nigeria

-         Innovation drove 4.5 percentage points of volume growth

• Revenue leverage and the cycling of the FIFA World Cup investments, resulted in a 50 basis point improvement in comparable operating expenses as a percentage of net sales revenue
• Comparable operating profit margin up 10 basis points to 9.7% while comparable operating profit increased by 4.7%
• Comparable earnings per share was €0.612, a 1.5% increase on the prior-year period, while basic earnings per share was €0.536, a 9.2% decrease

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

² Refer to the condensed consolidated income statement.

³Net Profit and comparable net profit refer to net profit and comparable net profit respectively after tax attributable to owners of the parent.

Zoran Bogdanovic, Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola HBC AG, commented:

“We are pleased with this solid first half given the challenging combination of tough comparators and unseasonably cold and wet weather. We grew revenue and volume across all three segments of our business and delivered further growth in comparable margins. Revenue Growth Management and innovation continue to deliver results, with innovation driving 4.5pp of volume growth in the first 6 months. We are driving growth in some of our most important categories including Sparkling, Water and Energy and we are progressing with preparations to launch Costa Coffee in 10 of our markets in 2020. We made good progress in the period on our packaging initiatives with three of our water brands now being bottled in 100% recycled plastic. Looking forward, we expect to deliver FX-neutral revenue growth within the range of 5-6%, with another year of margin expansion.”