India, China add fizz to Coke's Q1 numbers

A 20 per cent rise in volumes in emerging markets such as India and China helped Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company report an eight per cent growth in first-quarter profit, as the world's largest beverage maker continues to rely on BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) nations to drive growth.

In a quarter which saw sluggish volume growth in North America, Japan and Germany, India, China and Brazil were much better performers, Coca-Cola said. China saw volume growth of nine per cent, while Brazil's was four per cent, it said, following announcement of results for the quarter ended March 2012. Sales for the quarter grew by six per cent to $11 billion, against $10.2 billion in the year-ago period. Net earnings touched $2 billion, from $1.9 billion a year ago.