Coca-Cola HBC records marginal sales growth in six months in 2018

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Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, the parent company of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) reported a 0.5% revenue growth for the first half of 2018 through June ending. Sales grew to €3.2bn, driven by a 4.6% volume lift across all markets, with the biggest gains coming from developing markets which grew 8.9%, followed by emerging markets at 5.1% and established markets at 0.9%.

The company which operates in 28 countries in Europe and Nigeria said that growth accelerated in the second quarter bolstered by new product launches, good weather and the FIFA World Cup.

Commenting on the results, the Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola HBC, Zoran Bogdanovic, said: “The evolution of our portfolio is gathering pace and gaining traction with customers across our markets. We have delivered a strong set of results as product launches and tailored commercial activation enabled us to capitalize on favourable market conditions and the FIFA World Cup.

“Revenue growth was excellent driven by both volume and price/mix improvements across all three of our geographic segments. Margins continue to improve as we keep our focus on driving top-line growth and cost control”.
The company said that growth was slowed down by resumption of currency depreciation in emerging markets, losing €23m in the period, driven by the Russian Rouble, the Nigerian naira and the Swiss Franc.

In Nigeria, volume growth declined by 0.7% in the first half, with strong volume growth in the second quarter largely offsetting the decline in the first quarter. Sparkling volumes were stable, benefiting from better availability of certain popular PET packages and strong volume growth from Coke Zero and affordable brand Limca. Water volume fell by low single digits, as the mid-single digit growth in the second quarter was not enough to offset declines at the start of the year. The company recorded double-digit growth in Energy drinks.
Total net profit for the half year grew 13.2% to €216.9m.

Looking forward to the rest of the year, the company said it expects volume and price/mix growth, as well as slightly more favourable input cost movements. Altogether, it expects to make progress in both revenue and margin growth for the balance of the year.

In the same vein; Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited has announced it will host the second edition of its annual Customer Appreciation Golf Tournament as part of its global Customer Appreciation Week, to celebrate and acknowledge its loyal customers across Nigeria.

According to the beverage giant, the golf tournament will be held across three cities in Nigeria – Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja, and will be attended and contested by key stakeholders, distributors, customers and the media. There will be six winners emerging from the well contested 18 hole tournament for customers. The winners will get to travel on an all-expense paid trip to Mauritius to participate in the AfrAsia Mauritius Open Pro-Am Tournament in November.

Commenting on the planned activities, Head of Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Nwamaka I. Onyemelukwe, said “We are conscious of the role strategic customer relationship plays in any successful business enterprise and how it delivers a huge boost to any company’s competitive advantage. The Customer Appreciation Week is in line with our vision to collaborate and appreciate partners, inspiring moments of optimism and happiness using customer activities and rewarding engagements.

“We started this tournament in Lagos State about a year ago, to appreciate our customers and we got a lot of positive reviews. This year, we have expanded the tournament to three cities; Abuja, Ibadan and Lagos and we are happy to sponsor six winners to Mauritius as a result”.

Speaking further, Mrs Elizabeth Abiodun-Toki, Managing Director, Datof Golden Heritage Limited highlighted the importance of the event to key customers like her. “Coca-Cola continues to show us their immense gratitude. I have been a distributor of Coca-Cola since 1989 and they will always have my support. I am very proud of Coca-Cola for their growth over the years. My hope is that the company continues to host exciting events like this and we look forward to having a bigger and better competition in the coming years.”

Coca-Cola continues to take several steps in strengthening its presence in the Nigerian market. The Customer Appreciation is one of the many ways to express gratitude to customers across the country. The Customer Appreciation Week that started many years ago, is a unique period when service organizations and global agencies extol the patronage and loyalty of their esteemed customers by introducing several unique and special activities to appreciate them. It is celebrated annually and has grown into a global event.


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