Heavy rain freezes Coca-Cola sales

The volume of sales for the Coca-Cola bottler, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) Romania stagnated in the second quarter due to the heavy rains, the company announced on Tuesday.

The Coca-Cola bottler’s announcement comes shortly after complaints from the rest of the mineral water and soft drinks producers in Romania concerning the decline in sales caused by the bad weather.

“The unfavourable weather conditions impacted on Romania and resulted in a stagnation of the sales volume in the second quarter,” the Greece-based parent company announced.

Besides the unfavourable weather, CCHBC’s sales in the countries where the company operates were similarly hurt by economic transition conditions related to the EU accession of new members.

Geta Zimmerman, the CCHBC Romania official in charge of external relations said that under the circumstances, the company is pleased with the results.

“We are prepared for any alternative and are prepared to find other ways to compensate for this sales volume stagnation,” Zimmerman said.

A CCHBC Greece announcement showed Romania, alongside Russia, had made a significant contribution to the increase in the company’s EBITDA, both in the second quarter and in the first half.

CCHBC Romania’s sales volume rose 7% in the first half, in spite of the weaker performance in the second quarter.

Producers of mineral waters were recently estimating a 12% decline of the market in the first half of 2004, with such losses being impossible to recoup by the end of 2004. Their representatives foresaw, at best, stagnation for the entire year.

The market for soft drinks and mineral water together reaches approximately 500 million euros a year. The most important players on the soft drinks market are Coca-Cola, European Drinks, and Quadrant Amroq Beverages. The top players on the mineral water market are European Drinks (Izvorul Minunilor) Coca-Cola (Dorna) and Romaqua (Borsec).

The net revenues made by CCHBC from sales in the first half rose 6% to 2.07bn euros. First half EBITDA stood at 365 million euros. Emerging markets, Romania included, contributed 110 million euros to this result.
claudia.covaci@zf.ro