Coca-Cola HBC AG: Third quarter 2019 trading update

THIRD QUARTER 2019 TRADING UPDATE

SOLID QUARTER DESPITE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS

Coca-Cola HBC AG, a leading bottler of the brands of The Coca-Cola Company, today announces its 2019 Q3 trading update.

Third quarter highlights

Solid performance in a quarter where poor weather impacted industry volumes in our geographies.

FX-neutral revenue growth of 3.4%, or 2.3% excluding the impact of the Bambi acquisition.

Continued strong progress on our key areas of strategic focus:

-   Innovation supporting market share gains and contributing 3.7 pp of growth in the quarter

-   FX-neutral revenue per case accelerated with price increases and positive pack and category mix

Volumes increased by 1.1% in the quarter, -0.1% excluding Bambi. Transactions grew faster than volume and our brands gained or maintained share in the majority of our markets, while poor weather caused industry volumes to fall in several key countries.

-   Established markets volumes increased by 1.2%, an acceleration on the first half and prior-year period.

-   Developing markets volumes declined by 4.0%, cycling very strong volume growth of 11.3% in the
prior-year period, particularly impacted by poor weather across all major countries in August.

-   Emerging markets volumes increased by 3.0%, or by 0.8% excluding Bambi.  Ongoing volume growth in Romania, Ukraine and Nigeria, where the market is responding well to our strategic initiatives, was partially offset by a decline in Russia due to poor weather and tough comparatives.

FX-neutral revenue per case increased by 2.3%, or 2.4% excluding Bambi; an acceleration of more than 1% compared to the first half, and prior-year period.

-   Established markets FX-neutral revenue per case increased by 0.3%, as price increases and positive category and pack mix were offset by adverse channel mix.

-   Developing markets FX-neutral revenue per case increased by 4.6%, helped by the strong execution of our strategy for price, package and category mix to drive more revenue growth.

-   Emerging markets FX-neutral revenue per case increased by 3.4%, 3.1% excluding Bambi, with strong improvements in price/mix in all markets except Nigeria. In Nigeria, recently concluded successful pricing investments have enhanced our competitive position, driving strong volume growth in October.

We expect to deliver full year FX-neutral revenue growth of 4.0-4.5%, including a c.70bps contribution from Bambi.

Currency movements during the quarter were better than expected. We now expect a negative impact for the full year of EUR 15 million, an improvement of EUR 5 million compared to prior guidance.

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

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

"In a quarter in which unseasonably cold and wet weather significantly depressed industry volume growth in a number of our countries, we are pleased to have gained or maintained share in the majority of our markets and to have made progress with our commercial strategy which delivered a step-up in price/mix and ongoing growth in key areas of strategic focus such as Trademark Coke, Adults, Zeros and innovation. We are also proud to have been named by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as EuropeΆs most sustainable beverage company for the 6th time in 7 years.

"As we look to the full year, we are pleased to have seen an acceleration in Q4, giving us confidence that 2019 will be a year of solid top-line growth and good margin expansion."


Please find below the 2019 Q3 trading update press release
 

THIRD QUARTER 2019 TRADING UPDATE - SOLID QUARTER DESPITE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS