Coca-Cola Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2022 Results

Global Unit Case Volume Declined 1% for the Quarter and Grew 5% for the Full Year

Net Revenues Grew 7% for the Quarter and 11% for the Full Year;
Organic Revenues (Non-GAAP) Grew 15% for the Quarter and 16% for the Full Year

Operating Income Grew 24% for the Quarter and 6% for the Full Year;
Comparable Currency Neutral Operating Income (Non-GAAP) Grew 21% for the Quarter and
19% for the Full Year

Fourth Quarter EPS Declined 16% to $0.47, and Comparable EPS (Non-GAAP) Was Even at $0.45;
Full-Year EPS Declined 3% to $2.19, and Comparable EPS (Non-GAAP) Grew 7% to $2.48

Cash Flow from Operations Was $11.0 Billion for the Full Year, Down 13%;
Full-Year Free Cash Flow (Non-GAAP) Was $9.5 Billion, Down 15%

Company Provides 2023 Financial Outlook

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Coca-Cola Company today reported strong fourth quarter and full-year 2022 results. “While 2022 brought many challenges, we are proud of our overall results in a dynamic operating environment,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “As we begin 2023, we continue to invest in our capabilities and strengthen alignment with our bottling partners to maintain flexibility. We are keeping consumers at the center of our innovation and marketing investments, while also leveraging our expertise in revenue growth management and execution. Our growth culture is leading to new approaches, more experimentation, and improved agility to drive growth and value for our stakeholders.”

• Revenues: For the quarter, net revenues were strong, growing 7% to $10.1 billion. Organic revenues (non-GAAP) grew 15%. Organic revenue (non-GAAP) performance was strong across operating segments and included 12% growth in price/mix and 2% growth in concentrate sales. The quarter included one additional day, which resulted in a 1-point tailwind to revenue growth. The quarter also benefited from the timing of concentrate shipments. For the full year, net revenues grew 11% to $43.0 billion, and organic revenues (non-GAAP) grew 16%. This performance was driven by 11% growth in price/mix and 5% growth in concentrate sales.

• Operating margin: For the quarter, operating margin, which included items impacting comparability, was 20.5% versus 17.7% in the prior year, while comparable operating margin (non-GAAP) was 22.7% versus 22.1% in the prior year. For the full year, operating margin, which included items impacting comparability, was 25.4% versus 26.7% in the prior year, while comparable operating margin (non-GAAP) was 28.7% in both the current year and the prior year. For both the quarter and the full year, operating margin benefited from strong topline growth but was unfavorably impacted by the BODYARMOR acquisition, higher operating costs, an increase in marketing investments versus the prior year, currency headwinds and items impacting comparability.

• Earnings per share: For the quarter, EPS declined 16% to $0.47, and comparable EPS (non-GAAP) was even at $0.45. EPS performance included the impact of a 12-point currency headwind, while comparable EPS (non-GAAP) performance included the impact of an 11-point currency headwind. For the full year, EPS declined 3% to $2.19, and comparable EPS (non-GAAP) grew 7% to $2.48. EPS performance included the impact of an 11-point currency headwind, while comparable EPS (non-GAAP) performance included the impact of a 10-point currency headwind.

• Market share: For both the quarter and the full year, the company gained value share in total nonalcoholic ready-to-drink (“NARTD”) beverages, which included share gains in both at-home and away-from-home channels.

• Cash flow: Cash flow from operations was $11.0 billion for the full year, a decline of $1.6 billion versus the prior year, as strong business performance was more than offset by the deliberate buildup of inventory in the face of a volatile commodity environment, cycling working capital benefits from the prior year, and higher tax payments and annual incentive payments in 2022. Free cash flow (non-GAAP) was $9.5 billion, a decline of $1.7 billion versus the prior year.

• Evolving company leadership to fuel growth: The company continues to focus on having the right leaders and organizational structure to deliver on its growth strategy, while also developing talent for the future. Through recent leadership appointments, the company continued to optimize its organizational design, connecting functions end-to-end while identifying key opportunities to drive meaningful growth over the long term. During the quarter, John Murphy began an expanded role as President and Chief Financial Officer, and added oversight of Global Ventures, Bottling Investments, Platform Services, customer and commercial leadership, and online-to-offline digital transformation. The company also named Henrique Braun to the newly created role of President, International Development to oversee seven of the company’s nine operating units. Braun will steward growth of the consumer base across developing and emerging markets as well as developed markets. Braun will partner with Nikos Koumettis, President of the Europe operating unit, and Jennifer Mann, President of the North America operating unit, on global operational strategy in order to scale best practices and help ensure the company captures growth opportunities across all of its markets.

• Leveraging digital engagement to connect with more consumers: By linking consumption occasions with consumer passion points, the company is building deeper connections with consumers and reaching them in new and unique ways. The company successfully executed on the Coca-Cola® “Believing is Magic” global campaign for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by creating end-to-end, digitally driven experiences. The company developed its own digital platform, the Coca-Cola Fan Zone, which was activated in 41 markets and featured social experiences for soccer fans. Approximately 5 million consumers interacted with this platform. Through an exclusive partnership with Panini, the official licensed sticker album of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, soccer fans were able to trade physical and digital stickers, which drove approximately 28 million product label scans, up approximately 400% versus the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

• Progressing on ambitious packaging goals: The company continues to collaborate with partners to address challenges and create a circular economy for packaging. The company has built a broad spectrum of partnerships to help accelerate progress toward our 2030 packaging collection goal. In India, the company partnered with the grocery delivery service Zepto for a “return and recycle” initiative for PET bottles. Consumers can access the “Return PET Bottles” feature on the Zepto app, where they can opt to return four empty PET bottles, to be collected by Zepto riders. This initiative establishes an organized process of PET bottle collection with full traceability to help ensure effective plastic waste management. In Latin America, the company partnered with the food aggregator Rappi to collect empty PET bottles. In the Philippines, the company is transitioning the existing PET packaging of some of its brands to 100% recycled PET, excluding caps and labels, utilizing new sources of recycled PET from the joint venture investment PETValue, the first bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in the country. The new packaging formats for Coca-Cola® Original Taste and Wilkins® Pure will expand the company’s lineup in recycled plastic packaging in the country. The company also has approximately 50% of its portfolio in the country in returnable glass bottles.

• Building a fit-for-purpose balance sheet: The company is focused on having a balance sheet that supports sustainable value creation. In 2022, the company completed the refranchising of company-owned bottling operations in Cambodia to Swire Coca-Cola Limited, a subsidiary of Swire Pacific Limited, and completed the sale of its stake in the bottler in Egypt to Coca-Cola HBC AG. The company also announced the refranchising of company-owned bottling operations in Vietnam, which was completed in January 2023, and the company agreed to sell its stake in the bottler in Pakistan. Additionally, once market conditions become more favorable, the company intends to list Coca-Cola Beverages Africa as a publicly traded company via an initial public offering, which we believe will occur subsequent to 2023. The company continually evaluates the most effective use of capital to align with its objective of focusing resources on building consumer-loved brands and driving growth.

• Update on ongoing tax litigation with the IRS: In November 2020, the U.S. Tax Court (“Tax Court”) issued an opinion in the company’s 2015 transfer pricing litigation with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), in which the Tax Court predominantly sided with the IRS. The company intends to assert its claims on appeal and vigorously defend its position. In this opinion, the Tax Court reserved ruling on the effect of Brazilian legal restrictions on the payment of royalties by the company’s licensee in Brazil until after the Tax Court issued its opinion in a separate case involving the 3M Company. The Tax Court issued that opinion in the 3M case on February 9, 2023. As previously disclosed, the company expects that the Tax Court will now proceed to consider the impact of the 3M opinion on the company’s case and ultimately issue a final decision in the company’s case. The potential impact of the 3M decision for the payment of royalties in the company’s case is already reflected in the company’s previously disclosed estimates of the amounts of potential additional tax and interest that could become due if the IRS were ultimately to prevail in the courts.

In addition to the data in the preceding tables, operating results included the following:

• Unit case volume declined 1% for the quarter. When compared to 2019 volume levels, fourth quarter unit case volume growth was in line with the third quarter. For the fourth quarter, strong growth in Brazil, India, Great Britain and Mexico was more than offset by the suspension of business in Russia. For the full year, unit case volume grew 5% as broad-based growth across all operating segments was driven by strength in away-from-home channels and ongoing investments in the marketplace. Developed markets grew low single digits for the quarter and mid single digits for the year, driven by growth across most markets. Developing and emerging markets declined low single digits for the quarter and grew mid single digits for the year. This performance benefited from strong growth in India and Brazil and was unfavorably impacted by the suspension of business in Russia.

Unit case volume performance included the following:

• Sparkling soft drinks were even for the quarter and grew 4% for the year, benefiting from strong performance in Latin America and Asia Pacific and unfavorably impacted by the suspension of business in Russia. Trademark Coca-Cola was even for the quarter, as strong performance in Brazil and Philippines was offset by the suspension of business in Russia, and grew 4% for the year, driven by broad-based strength across all geographic operating segments. Coca-Cola® Zero Sugar grew 9% for the quarter and 11% for the year, driven by strong growth across developed markets as well as developing and emerging markets. Sparkling flavors declined 2% for the quarter and grew 5% for the year. This performance benefited from strong growth in India and the United States and was unfavorably impacted by the suspension of business in Russia.

• Juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverages declined 7% for the quarter and grew 3% for the year. This performance benefited from strong growth in developed markets and was unfavorably impacted by the suspension of business in Russia.

• Water, sports, coffee and tea were even for the quarter and grew 6% for the year. Water was even for the quarter and grew 5% for the year. This performance benefited from strong growth in Latin America and was unfavorably impacted by a decline in China due to varying levels of pandemic-related mobility restrictions. Sports drinks grew 1% for the quarter and 8% for the year, driven by strong performance in Latin America and Europe, Middle East and Africa. Coffee grew 11% for the quarter and 13% for the year, primarily driven by cycling the impact of pandemic-related Costa® retail store closures in the United Kingdom in the prior year and the continued expansion of Costa® coffee across markets. Tea declined 9% for the quarter and grew 1% for the year. This performance benefited from strong growth of Fuze® Tea in Latin America and was unfavorably impacted by doğadan® performance in Turkey.

• Price/mix grew 12% for the quarter and 11% for the year. This was primarily driven by pricing actions in the marketplace across operating segments along with favorable channel and package mix. For the quarter, concentrate sales were 3 points ahead of unit case volume, primarily due to one additional day along with the timing of concentrate shipments.

• Operating income grew 24% for the quarter and 6% for the year, which included items impacting comparability and currency headwinds. Comparable currency neutral operating income (non-GAAP) grew 21% for the quarter and 19% for the year. For both the quarter and the year, this performance was driven by strong organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth across all operating segments, partially offset by higher operating costs and an increase in marketing investments versus the prior year.

• Unit case volume declined 5% for the quarter, as strong growth in Western Europe was more than offset by the suspension of business in Russia.

• Price/mix grew 15% for the quarter, driven by pricing actions across operating units along with inflationary pricing in Turkey. For the quarter, concentrate sales were 1 point behind unit case volume, largely due to the timing of concentrate shipments.

• For the quarter, operating income declined 18%, which included items impacting comparability and a 27-point currency headwind. Comparable currency neutral operating income (non-GAAP) declined 5% for the quarter, as strong organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth across most operating units was more than offset by higher operating costs and an increase in marketing investments versus the prior year.

• For the year, the company gained value share in total NARTD beverages, led by share gains in France, Spain and Poland.

• Unit case volume grew 2% for the quarter, with solid growth across most categories. Growth was led by Brazil and Mexico.

• Price/mix grew 26% for the quarter, driven by pricing actions in the marketplace and favorable channel and package mix, in addition to inflationary pricing in Argentina. For the quarter, concentrate sales were 4 points ahead of unit case volume, primarily due to one additional day along with cycling the timing of concentrate shipments in the prior year.

• Operating income grew 22% for the quarter, which included a 12-point currency headwind and items impacting comparability. Comparable currency neutral operating income (non-GAAP) grew 34% for the quarter, primarily driven by strong organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth, partially offset by higher operating costs and an increase in marketing investments versus the prior year.

• For the year, the company lost value share in total NARTD beverages, as share gains in Brazil and Argentina were more than offset by pressure in sparkling soft drinks in Mexico.

• Unit case volume was even during the quarter, as growth in sparkling soft drinks, juice drinks and value-added dairy beverages was offset by declines in other beverage categories.

• Price/mix grew 12% for the quarter, primarily driven by pricing actions in the marketplace and the continued recovery in the fountain business.

• Operating income grew 6% for the quarter, which included items impacting comparability. Comparable currency neutral operating income (non-GAAP) grew 12% for the quarter, driven by strong organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth, partially offset by higher operating costs and an increase in marketing investments versus the prior year.

• The company gained value share in total NARTD beverages for the year, driven by the continued recovery in away-from-home channels along with strong performance in at-home channels for sparkling soft drinks and value-added dairy beverages.

• Unit case volume declined 1% for the quarter, driven by strong growth in India and Vietnam, which was more than offset by a decline in China due to varying levels of pandemic-related mobility restrictions.

• Price/mix grew 7% for the quarter, primarily driven by pricing actions in the marketplace, partially offset by negative geographic mix. For the quarter, concentrate sales were 9 points ahead of unit case volume, primarily due to the timing of concentrate shipments.

• Operating income grew 6% for the quarter, which included items impacting comparability and a 15-point currency headwind. Comparable currency neutral operating income (non-GAAP) grew 22% for the quarter, primarily driven by organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth across all operating units, partially offset by higher operating costs.

• For the year, the company gained value share in total NARTD beverages, led by share gains in India, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

• Net revenues declined 5% and organic revenues (non-GAAP) grew 8% for the quarter. Net revenues included a 13-point currency headwind. Revenue performance benefited from cycling the impact of pandemic-related Costa retail store closures in the United Kingdom in the prior year.

• Operating income and comparable currency neutral operating income (non-GAAP) both declined for the quarter, as solid organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth was more than offset by higher operating costs.

• Unit case volume grew 1% for the quarter, driven by strength in India and Vietnam.

• Price/mix grew 14% for the quarter, driven by pricing actions across most markets.

• Operating income declined 15% for the quarter, which included items impacting comparability and a 9-point currency headwind. Comparable currency neutral operating income (non-GAAP) declined 18% for the quarter, as strong organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth was more than offset by higher operating costs.

• Reinvesting in the business: The company continued to invest in its various lines of business and spent $1.5 billion on capital expenditures in 2022, an increase of 9% versus the prior year.

• Continuing to grow the dividend: The company paid dividends totaling $7.6 billion during 2022. The company has increased its dividend in each of the last 60 years.

• Consumer-centric M&A: In 2022, the company did not make any significant acquisitions. The company continues to evaluate inorganic growth opportunities through brands and capabilities.

• Share repurchases: In 2022, the company issued $0.8 billion of shares in connection with the exercise of stock options by employees, and the company purchased $1.4 billion of shares. Consequently, net share repurchases (non-GAAP) were $0.6 billion. The company’s remaining share repurchase authorization is approximately $8 billion.

The 2023 outlook information provided below includes forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures, which management uses in measuring performance. The company is not able to reconcile full-year 2023 projected organic revenues (non-GAAP) to full-year 2023 projected reported net revenues, full-year 2023 projected comparable net revenues (non-GAAP) to full-year 2023 projected reported net revenues, full-year 2023 projected comparable cost of goods sold (non-GAAP) to full-year 2023 projected reported cost of goods sold, full-year 2023 projected underlying effective tax rate (non-GAAP) to full-year 2023 projected reported effective tax rate, full-year 2023 projected comparable currency neutral EPS (non-GAAP) to full-year 2023 projected reported EPS, or full-year 2023 projected comparable EPS (non-GAAP) to full-year 2023 projected reported EPS without unreasonable efforts because it is not possible to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the exact timing and exact impact of acquisitions, divestitures and structural changes throughout 2023; the exact impact of changes in commodity costs throughout 2023; the exact timing and exact amount of items impacting comparability throughout 2023; and the exact impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates throughout 2023. The unavailable information could have a significant impact on the company’s full-year 2023 reported financial results.

Full Year 2023

The company expects to deliver organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth of 7% to 8%.

For comparable net revenues (non-GAAP), the company expects a 2% to 3% currency headwind based on the current rates and including the impact of hedged positions, in addition to an approximate 1% headwind from acquisitions, divestitures and structural changes.

The company expects commodity price inflation to be a mid single-digit percentage headwind on comparable cost of goods sold (non-GAAP) based on the current rates and including the impact of hedged positions.

The company’s underlying effective tax rate (non-GAAP) is estimated to be 19.5%. This does not include the impact of ongoing tax litigation with the IRS, if the company were not to prevail.

Given the above considerations, the company expects to deliver comparable currency neutral EPS (non-GAAP) growth of 7% to 9% and comparable EPS (non-GAAP) growth of 4% to 5%, versus $2.48 in 2022.

Comparable EPS (non-GAAP) percentage growth is expected to include a 3% to 4% currency headwind based on the current rates and including the impact of hedged positions, in addition to a slight headwind from acquisitions, divestitures and structural changes.

The company expects to generate free cash flow (non-GAAP) of approximately $9.5 billion through cash flow from operations of approximately $11.4 billion, less capital expenditures of approximately $1.9 billion. This does not include any potential payments related to ongoing tax litigation with the IRS.

First Quarter 2023 Considerations

Comparable net revenues (non-GAAP) are expected to include a 5% to 6% currency headwind based on the current rates and including the impact of hedged positions, in addition to an approximate 1% headwind from acquisitions, divestitures and structural changes.

Comparable EPS (non-GAAP) percentage growth is expected to include a 6% to 7% currency headwind based on the current rates and including the impact of hedged positions.

The first quarter has one less day compared to first quarter 2022.

• All references to growth rate percentages and share compare the results of the period to those of the prior year comparable period, unless otherwise noted.

• All references to volume and volume percentage changes indicate unit case volume, unless otherwise noted. All volume percentage changes are computed based on average daily sales in the fourth quarter, unless otherwise noted, and are computed on a reported basis for the full year. “Unit case” means a unit of measurement equal to 192 U.S. fluid ounces of finished beverage (24 eight-ounce servings), with the exception of unit case equivalents for Costa non-ready-to-drink beverage products which are primarily measured in number of transactions. “Unit case volume” means the number of unit cases (or unit case equivalents) of company beverages directly or indirectly sold by the company and its bottling partners to customers or consumers.

• “Concentrate sales” represents the amount of concentrates, syrups, beverage bases, source waters and powders/minerals (in all instances expressed in unit case equivalents) sold by, or used in finished beverages sold by, the company to its bottling partners or other customers. For Costa non-ready-to-drink beverage products, “concentrate sales” represents the amount of beverages, primarily measured in number of transactions (in all instances expressed in unit case equivalents) sold by the company to customers or consumers. In the reconciliation of reported net revenues, “concentrate sales” represents the percent change in net revenues attributable to the increase (decrease) in concentrate sales volume for the geographic operating segments and the Global Ventures operating segment after considering the impact of structural changes, if any. For the Bottling Investments operating segment for the fourth quarter, this represents the percent change in net revenues attributable to the increase (decrease) in unit case volume computed based on total sales (rather than average daily sales) in each of the corresponding periods after considering the impact of structural changes, if any. For the Bottling Investments operating segment for the full year, this represents the percent change in net revenues attributable to the increase (decrease) in unit case volume after considering the impact of structural changes, if any. The Bottling Investments operating segment reflects unit case volume growth for consolidated bottlers only.

• “Price/mix” represents the change in net operating revenues caused by factors such as price changes, the mix of products and packages sold, and the mix of channels and geographic territories where the sales occurred.

• First quarter 2022 financial results were impacted by one less day as compared to first quarter 2021, and fourth quarter 2022 financial results were impacted by one additional day as compared to fourth quarter 2021. Unit case volume results for the quarters are not impacted by the variances in days due to the average daily sales computation referenced above.

The company is hosting a conference call with investors and analysts to discuss fourth quarter and full-year 2022 operating results today, Feb. 14, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The company invites participants to listen to a live webcast of the conference call on the company’s website, http://www.coca-colacompany.com, in the “Investors” section. An audio replay in downloadable digital format and a transcript of the call will be available on the website within 24 hours following the call. Further, the “Investors” section of the website includes certain supplemental information and a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the company’s results as reported under GAAP, which may be used during the call when discussing financial results.

Investors and Analysts: Tim Leveridge, koinvestorrelations@coca-cola.com
Media: Scott Leith, sleith@coca-cola.com

Source: The Coca-Cola Company

Released February 14, 2023