The Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd [ASX:CCL] share price was up slightly today after the ASX 200 company released a market update.
CCL is one of the largest bottling companies in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products.
In Australia, CCL saw better volumes during the Christmas period
For the fourth quarter of 2020, the company saw 0.4% volume growth in Australia — an improvement on the three previous quarters of the year in which volume change had been negative. However, even with the last quarter’s growth, volumes in Australia resulted in an overall 4.2% contraction for the year.
Most of the large declines in volume were in Fiji and Indonesia. The company has been struggling with the pandemic in Indonesia in particular.
As group managing director Alison Watkins said:
‘Whilst we are encouraged by recent trading in Australia and particularly in New Zealand, month to month volatility remains. This is particularly the case in Australia, where On-the-Go (OTG) trading can vary considerably by state depending on the prevailing COVID-19 restrictions and related sentiment at any given point in time.
‘Our Indonesian business continues to face challenging trading conditions, with COVID-19 infection rates remaining high and tough macro-economic conditions prevailing.’
For the full 2020 fiscal year the group saw an 8.4% decrease in volume compared to the previous year. The company also suffered a 6.1% drop in revenue, with total revenue for the year at $4.76 billion.
What could happen next for CCL?
The company expects that earnings for FY20 will be $550.7 million, a 13.9% decrease from the previous year, and net profit to be $340.3 million.
Markets have taken the news well. At time of writing, the share price was up 0.70% and trading at $13. The share price collapsed in March but has slowly recovered since.
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