Unfavourable rains impacts Coca Cola's business, growth outlook intact

Unseasonal rains in India, which cooled temperatures in the summer months, had an impact on Coca-Cola’s India business in Q1 of FY24, James Quincey, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) told investors on a conference call. 

“In India, business was unfavourably impacted by unseasonable rains and cooler temperatures in the quarter. However, the growth outlook remains intact,” Quincey said. 
 

He told investors that there was strong demand for some of its juice businesses in China and India. 

Developing and emerging markets were also even, as growth in India and Brazil was offset by the suspension of business in Russia in 2022 and a decline in Pakistan, the company said in its earnings release. 

In the Asia Pacific region, Coca-Cola witnessed a unit case volume growth of 2 per cent on the back of growth across most categories. Its growth was led by India, China, Thailand and Vietnam. 

It also gained value share in total NARTD (non-alcoholic ready-to-drink) beverages led by share gains in South Korea, India, Australia and Thailand. 

Its unit case volume in its bottling investments declined by 1 per cent driven by the impact of refranchising bottling operations and a decline in the Philippines.

The decline was partially offset by growth in India and South Africa, the release added.

PepsiCo also reported high single-digit organic revenue growth and market share gains in India across food and beverage categories, despite experiencing a decline in food volumes and only a low-single digit growth in beverages during the second quarter, ending 17 June.