The shares fell at one stage by over 7%, also pressured by a broader retail rout sparked by data that showed a surprise drop in US retails sales in December. To counter rising costs, Coca-Cola has raised prices of its beverages. But that has come at the expense of demand: Volumes fell 1% in North America in the fourth quarter, while Latin America was down 2%. Coca-Cola’s fourth-quarter topline was decent, but there are concerns on the composition, with volumes being weak, said Jefferies analyst Kevin Grundy, adding that the quarter was “messy”. Shares of British soft drink bottler Coca-Cola HBC fell 4% earlier in the day, after it warned of higher finance costs and weak consumer spending in several of its markets this year.

Source: Irish Examiner February 15, 2019 07:30 UTC