Raising the sales and revenues of global behemoths is often a tough thing, and more often than not, a lot of thought needs to go into the ways in which revenues can be boosted even by a tiny bit. In that regard, the powers that be at beverage giant Coca-Cola seem to have done well as the company comfortably beat the Wall Street estimates for its revenues. Much of that is down to some of the latest initiative, and it is largely driven by a spike in sales of its products, rather than a temporary rise in revenues due to cost-cutting measures. The beverage company’s thrust towards healthier beverages, devoid of sugar seems to have worked wonders as the Zero Sugar line of products drove the sales figures. In addition to that, the vast array of sports drinks and bottled water also proved to be excellent performers as far as sales were concerned.
For the first quarter of 2019, Coca-Cola reported revenues of $8.02 billion and comfortably beat Wall Street estimates that pegged it at $7.88 billion. The earnings per share stood at 48 cents per share and that beat the analysts’ estimates of 46 cents per share as well. The brand has performed well throughout the world and especially so in North America, however, the economic meltdown in Argentina has not served the company well. The decline in sales in the South American company was in double figures, and for now, that is something that Coca-Cola cannot do much about.
James Quincey, the Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola stated that one of the biggest reasons behind the growth for the giant is ‘constant innovation’ and much of it was seen in the Coke Zero Sugar brand. For instance, the introduction of the Orange Vanilla flavour in February this year performed admirably and drew more customers. The company showed growth in almost all the key segments, and the fruit juice business in India also showed rapid growth after having slumped a bit in the recent past. In his statement, Quincey said, “We’re encouraged by our first quarter results as our disciplined growth strategies continue to deliver strong underlying performance.” Coca-Cola is also going to introduce a range of new products in 2019, and one of its most ambitious product launches is the Coca-Cola Coffee, which is all set to be launched in 25 markets.
