(By Balachander) Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) reported a 4 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by global volume growth. Earnings also topped Wall Street projections, while revenue growth was slightly short of consensus.
On a comparable basis, earnings per share (EPS) fell to 51 cents from 52 cents, yet beat market expectations of 50 cents for the third quarter. GAAP earnings increased 4 percent to $2.31 billion.
Net operating revenue rose 1 percent to $12.34 billion, while Wall Street analysts' projected a growth of 1.20 percent. Global volume grew 4 percent.
"We continue to deliver consistent and solid performance, with our business growing worldwide volume by 4 percent in the quarter and 5 percent year-to-date," CEO Muhtar Kent said. "Importantly, we realized growth in the quarter across all five of our global geographic operating groups, despite continued volatility in the worldwide economy."
Coca-Cola reported solid growth in key developed markets, including North America (+2 percent), Japan (+2 percent) and Europe (+1 percent), which reported growth across all business units in the quarter. Key emerging markets such as Thailand (+19 percent) and India (+15 percent) posted strong volume growth. Its China business delivered 2 percent volume growth.
KO ended Monday's regular trading session at $38.13. The stock has been trading in the 52-week range between $32.37 and $40.67.