Currency headwinds take fizz out of Coca-Cola Q1 revenues

13th May 2016 07:02

(ShareCast News) - Weak emerging country currencies and a strong euro combined to hit sales at bottler Coca-Cola HBC, with net sales revenues down 2.7% to €1.3bn in the first quarter.On a constant currency basis, sales rose 2%. The company reported good growth in Nigeria, Romania and Poland, which offset a weak performance in Russia.Volume sales were flat at 439m cases, helped by increases in developing and emerging markets.Chief executive Dimitris Lois said pricing remained weak, particularly in the Czech Republic and Poland."We are encouraged by the ongoing volume growth in Emerging and Developing markets and the improving underlying trend in established markets," he said."While soft in the quarter, pricing trends in developing markets are improving. We are confident we have the right initiatives in place to continue our progress in the remainder of the year."