Dorna boosts Coca-Cola sales

Dorna and Swiss Valser mineral waters Coca-Cola bought last year contributed 3% to the increase in Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC)’s sales volume in the first nine months of this year, compared with the same time last year. The sales growth in this period was of 7% from 971.7bn units to 1,041.4bn units. At the same time, the two companies contributed 2% to the EBITDA growth. CCHBC representatives in Romania could not be reached for comment. Operating income in Q3, however, rose 24%, but the progress was slowed down by the difficult conditions on the emerging markets, which is especially true for Russia. CCHBC and The Coca-Cola Company bought Dorna Apemin, the producer of the Dorna mineral waters, in a 39 million euro deal. This acquisition, which is also one of the most important such deals on the Romanian market in the last few years, was a step of the American company’s expansion on the emerging markets. Coca-Cola is the second leading player on the domestic soft drinks market after European Drinks and ahead of Pepsi. CCHBC has five factories in Romania. ZF