Coca-Cola Earnings: What to Watch
February 08 2017 - 8:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Jennifer Maloney
Coca-Cola Co. is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter
earnings before the market opens Thursday. Here's what you need to
know:
EARNINGS FORECAST: Earnings per share of 37 cents is the
consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, down from 38
cents per share a year earlier.
REVENUE FORECAST: Analysts expect revenue of $9.14 billion,
compared with $10 billion a year earlier.
WHAT TO WATCH:
NEW CEO: Coke in December said that its operations chief James
Quincey would succeed Muhtar Kent as CEO, and Wall Street will be
eager for clues about what Mr. Quincey has in store for the company
once he takes over in May. He has said, for example, that he would
like to go faster in diversifying Coke's beverage portfolio.
COST SAVINGS: Investors will be listening for details on Coke's
cost-cutting efforts as the company targets $3 billion in annual
savings by 2019.
BOTTLING: As it focuses on its more profitable concentrate
business, Coke is divesting from its bottling operations, with a
self-imposed deadline of December 2017 for its reorganization in
the U.S. Coke has estimated that the divestments would lower its
revenue for 2016, and it will likely discuss the impact that this
restructuring will have in the year ahead.
SODA TAXES: One of the company's biggest challenges is the
increasing number of governments weighing special taxes on sugary
drinks as they attempt to fight rising obesity and diabetes rates.
Five U.S. municipalities, including Chicago's Cook County and San
Francisco, approved sweetened-drink taxes in November, and the U.K.
plans to introduce a levy in 2018. Coke may discuss the taxes and
how it plans to address them, including its efforts to expand its
selection of low- and zero-calorie drinks.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 08, 2017 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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