Beverage giant Coca-Cola has reported a net operating revenue jump of 7% in its fourth quarter of the financial year 2023 with a growth of 2% in unit case in each quarter of 2023.
During the Coca-Cola earnings call, Chairman and CEO James Quincey said that the company saw robust growth in 2023, especially in India.
The net operating revenue of the company stood at $10,849 million in Q4 FY23, up by 7% from the same quarter previous fiscal when it was $10,125 million.
The cost of goods sold by Coca-Cola in Q4 FY23 stood at $4,634 million, up by 3% from $4,513 million in Q4 FY22.
Quincey said there was a strong consumer demand across some countries while there was a shift in consumer behaviour in the Middle East due to the tensions.
“During the quarter, we saw strong consumer demand across Australia, India, Latin America, Japan and South Korea. In North America, consumer spending in aggregate is holding up well, and in Europe, consumers remain cost-conscious. In Africa and China, the macro environment remains uncertain, and in the Middle East, tensions have resulted in some shifts in consumer behaviour that have had an impact on our business,” Quincey said.
According to the company, it created $15 billion in incremental retail sales for its customers in the year 2023, more than any other beverage company.
“This was our sixth year in a row as the leader in value creation,” said Quincey, adding, “Across our business, we continue to prioritize agility and focus on improving every aspect of how we operate. An important part of this is our marketing transformation. To recruit the next generation of drinkers, our marketing has shifted from a TV-centric model to a digital-first organization that balances local intimacy, scale, and flexibility. Our digital mix has gone from less than 30% in 2019 to approximately 60% of our total media spend.”
According to the company’s CFO John Murphy, “Our 2024 guidance builds on the underlying momentum of our business. We expect organic revenue growth of 6% to 7% and comparable currency-neutral earnings per share growth of 8% to 10%. We anticipate hyperinflationary pricing will continue to play a role in 2024, but will moderate throughout the year.”
He said that there are some considerations to keep in mind for 2024.
“The first quarter of 2024 will be impacted by the timing of concentrate shipments in the fourth quarter of 2023 in some markets and cycling our strongest volume growth quarter from the prior year. We estimate the ongoing conflict in the Middle East at approximately 1 point of impact on volume growth during the fourth quarter of 2023. It’s unclear how long this impact will last,” Murphy said.