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To: MichaelW who wrote (72188)	10/15/1998 9:46:00 AM
From: Joseph Francis Torti	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176388

More rah rah please, bring on more rah rah. (G)

To: MichaelW who wrote (72188)	10/15/1998 9:54:00 AM
From: D.J.Smyth	Respond to of 176388

ot coke met expectations: (reading bw the lines, Coke sold a bottling operation in Italy which was the largest single factor in decreased earnings and revenue; without the sale they would have beat earnings. they apparently believe they can make up the difference through increased sales elsewhere) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Coca-Cola Co., hit harder than expected by the slowdown in global economies, said Thursday its third-quarter net income fell 12%, and that unit case volume - a key indicator of underlying health - rose an anemic 3%. The results before items matched Wall Street's estimates, but analysts had lowered their goals after a warning from the company last month. The beverage giant (KO) posted net income of $888 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with year-ago earnings of $1.01 billion, or 40 cents a share. The latest quarter included an after-tax gain of one cent a share related to the merger of two German bottlers. Without that gain, the company said it would have earned 35 cents a share, which matched the mean estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by First Call. The year-ago quarter included an after-tax gain of five cents a share related to several bottling transactions. The company said moderate growth in volume and continued currency declines caused latest earnings excluding gains to be flat with a year ago. Revenue in the latest quarter slipped 4.2% to $4.75 billion, mostly on the strong dollar and the sale of previously consolidated bottling operations in Italy. Coke said that during the latest quarter, the dollar was about 9% stronger compared with a weighted average basket of foreign currencies in the year-ago period. The sale of the Italian bottling operations shifted a greater portion of the company's net operating revenue to the lower revenue, but higher margin concentrate business. Therefore, while net operating revenue was cut by the sale of the operations, gross margins improved from a year ago. Coke said that although equity income rose 11% in the quarter, it was hurt by global economic conditions and continued structural changes in the global bottling system. Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said world-wide case volume rose 3%, compared with 11% growth in the year-ago quarter. World-wide gallon shipments were up 5%. Analysts had hoped the company would at least have case-volume growth of 6% to 7%, but late in September they lowered their estimates to 5% after the dire predictions from Coke, which had been thought to be somewhat insulated from global economic turmoil. Coke said it isn't immune to the economic difficulties plaguing many markets around the world as a result of weakening economies in Asia and Europe. The company said it is committed to strengthening its system through the current difficult time and to focusing on long-term capabilities and capacities. For the North America group, unit case volume rose 4%, including 4% growth in the U.S. Gallon shipments rose 6% in the North America group, including 6% growth in the U.S. For Latin America, unit case volume rose 4% in the latest quarter, inclluding gains of 8% in Mexico, 8% in Argentina and 11% in Central America and the Caribbean. Gallon shipments in the Latin America Group rose 6% in the latest quarter. Unit case volume in the Middle and Far East Group rose 3%, and gallon shipments rose 5%. In the Greater Europe group, unit case volume increased 1%, with case volume up 10% in Spain, but down 7% in the Nordic and North Eurasia division. Gallon shipments were flat with a year ago. The Africa group had a 5% rise in unit case volume, and gallon shipments were up 13%. Volume at Minute Maid Co. rose 3% as a result of brand-building activities and increases in share of sales for Minute Maid Premium ready-to-drink orange juice products. During the recent quarter, Coke purchased nearly eight million of its common shares at an average price of $75. Since the beginning of 1984, the company has repurchsed 32% of its shares, or more than one billion shares, at an average cost of $12 a share. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (:KO) 10/15 8:15a CDT