(New York) Coca-Cola raised its full-year forecast on Tuesday after beating expectations in the third quarter despite the stronger dollar, although the group saw some inflation-related shifts in consumption.
Posted at 12:24 p.m.
Customers have not a priori yet been scalded by the rise in prices of the group’s products: sales increased by 4% in volume, details a press release.
They were driven by purchases outside the home, such as in restaurants, cinemas or gas stations.
Habits, however, are beginning to change, noted the boss of Coca-Cola, James Quincey, during a conference call.
In times of recession, consumers tend to cut non-essentials first before reevaluating their entire basket, sometimes choosing unbranded products or smaller sizes, he said.
“We can clearly see that it is starting to happen in certain places,” remarked James Quincey. In Europe in particular, customers seem to gravitate more towards unbranded products or low-cost stores.
“Clearly the impact of inflation that is not caught up by wages is starting to be felt now that the summer is over and the start of the school year has taken place,” noted the official.
In addition to the threat of a slowdown in demand for its products, the group must manage changes in exchange rates, marked mainly by the strengthening of the American currency against other currencies. They weighed 8% on the income of the parent company of the Coca, Fanta, Sprite and Minute Maid brands.
The company’s sales ultimately rose 10% to $11.1 billion.
Its net profit rose 14% to $2.8 billion.
The action rose 1.6% at mid-session on Wall Street.
For the full year, Coca-Cola slightly raised its forecast for organic sales, which excludes the impact of the exchange rate (+14-15% against +12-13% previously), as well as its adjusted earnings per share forecast.
Foreign exchange effects should weigh 7% on revenues, against 6% initially anticipated.
For 2023, Coca-Cola “expects global inflation to continue to impact its spending across the board and also expects commodity prices to remain volatile. »
Its major competitor in the non-alcoholic beverage market, PepsiCo, also raised its growth forecast for the year in early October.