Coca-Cola HBC lifts 2024 guidance after strong first half

Coca-Cola HBC, the UK-listed anchor bottler for the American beverage giant, has upgraded its guidance for 2024 after a strong first half with solid revenue growth and market share gains.

The Switzerland-based bottler said it now expects organic revenue growth of 8-12% this year, ahead of its previous mid-term target range of 6-7%, while earnings before interest and tax are tipped to rise by 7-12%, above the previous 3-9% range.

Net sales revenues were up 13.6% year-on-year in the six months to 28 June at €5.18bn, though reported growth was only 3.1% due to negative foreign exchange effects.

Volumes totalled 1.43bn during the first half, up 3.2% on last year, with all of the company's so-called "strategic priority categories" driving growth: sparkling beverages rose 0.9%, energy drinks jumped 32.8% while coffee was up 21.6%.

"Supported by continued targeted investment, we have delivered organic volume growth across each of our strategic priority categories of Sparkling, Energy and Coffee, and further increased our value share in NARTD," said chief executive Zoran Bogdanovic. NARTD refers to the company's non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink beverages, as well as coffee and snacks.

EBIT rose 0.6% on a reported basis to €564.1m, but would have been 7.5% higher on an organic basis.

"While mindful of macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges as well as a more uncertain consumer environment, we are upgrading our guidance for the year, reflecting our strong first half performance and confidence that we can continue to win in the marketplace," Bogdanovic said.