Boston, MA 11/25/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Despite a 3% fall in overall revenue, USA-based global beverage giant The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) revealed a higher quarterly profit and professed confidence in bolstering its sales and revenue generation capability by as much as 200% by year 2020. In line with analyst estimates, the soft drink behemoth’s net income soared 6% for its recent third quarter to around $2.45 billion, or $0.54 a share, as compared to about $2.31 billion, or $0.50 a share, a year earlier. Excluding special items like tax factors, the earnings evaluated to $0.53 a share.
Revenue, the only disappointment, slipped by about 3% from $12.34 billion to $12.03 billion for the same period, attributed largely to weakening currency fluctuations in new markets, falling a bit short of analyst expectations of around $12.05 billion. Riding on strengthening global sales from sales volumes rising 2% overall in North America, 5% in Asia-Pacific regions, 9% in China and remaining steady in Latin America, the global beverage industry leader intends to invest further in its brands and prospective acquisitions.
Meanwhile, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which recently collaborated with American automobile major Ford Motors to produce a seat fabric for cars manufactured from an eco-friendly green technology consisting of recycled material and plants, also used for its bottling methods, plans to invest over $4 billion to set up new plants between 2015 and 2017 in one of its lucrative markets China. This investment is in addition to the $4 billion the bellwether had previously set aside for China in 2012-2014. China, where The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) holds the highest 16% market share, continues to be a growing market for the giant owing to Chinese consumers increasingly preferring healthier food and beverage options. Coca Cola’s shares closed at the stable $40.43 for the second consecutive day, rising by about 1% from previous November 20 closing figure of $40.06. After-hours trading saw the stocks fluctuate between $40.228 and $40.434.
