Last year’s performance is even better than in 2008, when Coca-Cola overshot the RON2 billion sales mark for the first time. The local company in Romania is part of the Coca-Cola HBC group, whose principal shareholder is the David-Leventis family, which indirectly owns 23.3%, followed by The Coca-Cola Company (23.1%), according to the latest data available.
The sales increased by 11% in volume after two years of decline. Last year saw the food and non-alcoholic beverage VAT cut from 24% to 9% as of June 1, which drove consumer spending up. The impact of this move showed in Coca-Cola HBC’s sales, which went up by 9% in the first half, when the VAT was still 24% and more than 20% in the second, according to ZF’s calculations.
Top performers by sales growth in 2015, more than 20%, were Schweppes, Sprite and Cappy Pulpy. The flagship brand, Coca-Cola, contributed to the rise in sales, too.
Net profit doubled to RON243 million, according to ZF’s calculations based on the data the company supplied, but was still one million lei shy of the 2008 level.
Coca-Cola HBC Romania preserved its market leader position in 2015. Its main rival, PepsiCo, has yet to reveal last year’s results. On the other hand, the only Romanian-held business that can compete with the two multinationals, Romaqua Group, posted about 13% increase in sales. (EUR1=RON4.4884)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)