Coca-Cola, buoyed by a solid performance in its Asian markets, today reported a fourth-quarter profit in line with Wall Street expectations, but said revenues slipped 1 per cent, prompting a drop in shares of the world's largest soft drink company.
Coca-Cola said it earned $242 million, after charges related to a company restructuring, the settlement of a racial discrimination lawsuit and other items.
Revenue slipped to $4.9 billion in the latest quarter from $4.93 billion a year earlier.
Shares of Coca-Cola fell $1.01 to $56.90 on the New York Stock Exchange trading today.
The fourth-quarter results capped a turbulent year for the company, which undertook a dramatic restructuring of its operations, including thousands of layoffs and the naming of a new management team.
"I would almost characterise this as somewhat of a kitchen-sink type of quarter where they really needed to purge and clean to prepare the business to hopefully execute and deliver better financial results going forward in 2001," said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Mr Skip Carpenter.
Coca-Cola's worldwide unit case volume, a key measure of financial health in the soft-drink industry, increased by 3 per cent in the fourth quarter, as the company had projected last month.
Coca-Cola met its fourth-quarter earnings target largely due to strong growth in its Asia-Pacific operations, where volumes grew by 9 per cent. It posted sluggish 2 per cent growth in its European and Eurasian operations.
Reuters