Grappling with decreases in revenue and volume, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. posted an 11% decrease in profits for the second-quarter. The European bottler, which was created from Coca-Cola Co. in 1986 to bring together its independent bottling groups, is now expecting single-digit sales growth for the rest of the year. The company has now set earnings at a very modest USD 2.45 to USD 2.50. This is a far cry from the 11% to 12% profit growth it had anticipated earlier.
Among the factors that contributed to the drop are the European economic crisis, France's increased taxes, and stiff competition in the US. For this quarter, Coca-Cola Enterprises registered a USD 182 million profit. In the same period last year, the company had netted profits of USD 205 million. Earnings increased a bit from 73 cents to 77 cents, but sales, which dropped by 2.4%, was only at USD 2.16 billion.
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