Coca-Cola Enterprises is boosted by strong sales
COCA-COLA Enterprises posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and gave an encouraging full-year forecast yesterday.
The soft drink bottler, which earlier this month became a company that operates solely in Europe, said it expects 2010 earnings of $1.74 to $1.78 per share. Analysts’ average estimate was $1.75 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
The results did not include North America, since earlier this month Coca-Cola took over Coke Enterprises’ North American operations, following a similar move by PepsiCo.
In the third quarter, Coke Enterprises said net income was $208m, up from $200m a year earlier. Earnings before one-time items were 58 cents a share, compared with the average analyst view of 53 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.