Coke profit, sales beats estimates; lowers share buyback plan

REUTERS - Coca-Cola Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales as it raised prices to offset the impact of a strong dollar, and said it could spend lesser to buy back shares this year.

The company's shares rose nearly 1 percent in premarket trading on Wednesday.

Coke, which called 2015 its "transition year", has been working to revive sales as customers ditch its carbonated drinks such as Coca-Cola and Sprite for healthier options such as teas and fruit juices.

The company bought a stake in energy drinks maker Monster Beverage Corp last year and bought the beverage business of a Chinese company in April to gain a foothold in the multi-grain drinks category.

Coke said the volume of Coca-Cola sodas it sold rose 1 percent in the second quarter, helped by increased advertising and a 6 percent jump in the sales volume of sugar-free Coca-Cola Zero.

Sales in North America, which account for nearly half of total sales, rose for the second straight quarter, indicating that the company's transition plans were gaining traction.

Coke's net revenue fell 3 percent to $12.16 billion in the three months ended July 3. Revenue rose 4 percent, excluding the impact of the dollar, acquisitions and divestitures.

Net income attributable to shareholders rose nearly 20 percent to $3.11 billion, or 71 cents per share. Excluding items, it earned 63 cents per share.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 60 cents per share on revenue of $12.06 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company said it would buy back shares worth up to $2.0-$2.5 billion this year, lesser than the $2-$3 billion it had earmarked earlier.

Coke's shares rose to $41.58. They had fallen 2.5 percent this year up to Tuesday's close of $41.19.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)