Shore Capital expects volume growth from Coca Cola Hellenic

4th Aug 2015 15:40

(ShareCast News) - Shore Capital said it expected Coca Cola to report solid volumes but be hit by foreign exchange headwinds when it delivers its first half results next week.The brokerage has a 'sell' rating on the drinks producer and a price target of 1,306p, but warned it could reduce this based on the economic environment in a number of its markets.Shore Capital said it expected group volumes to lift by 7% to 1037.7m units from 970.2m units.Earnings before interest and tax were expected to decline compared with the first half of 2014 to €155.4m from €164.1m.Analyst Phil Carroll said Coca Cola's second largest market by volume, Italy, would deliver low single-digital volume growth, aided by additional selling days."The big unknowns for us are how the group is coping with the adverse impact of FX rates, which continue to present a significant headwind on both a transactional and translational basis, how much benefit is coming through from lower input costs and the level of efficiency gains management is driving through the business," Carroll said.Emerging markets in particular offered limited visibility as foreign exchange markets had been adverse, especially in Russia and Nigeria.The analyst said its negative stance was softened to some extent by surprising results from several consumer companies and Coca Cola's first quarter results.Shares in Coca Cola had dropped by 4.84% to 1279p at 1502 BST.