Coca‑Cola Hellenic Bottling Company AG, the bottler of The Coca-Cola Company in Nigeria said price increases in Nigeria helped its first-quarter revenue for this year.
On a year on year basis, net sales rose by 4% to EUR1,37 billion compared to EUR1,31 billion recorded in the same quarter last year.
The company said its emerging markets segment volume up 4.0% with a major contribution from Nigeria. This is despite the country’s macro-economic challenges and significant price increases.
There are challenges ahead for the company’s juice unit in Nigeria as it disclosed that the segment saw a 4.4% loss including in Russia and Ireland.
Coca‑Cola HBC has a total annual sales volume of more than 2 billion unit cases as at 2016 full year. The company acquired 100% stake in the Nigerian Bottling Company.
The impact of its Fanta and Sprite embargo and lawsuit was also not commented on. It would be recalled that a Nigerian court had ordered NBC to put safety warnings on its Fanta and Sprite soft drinks because of the higher levels of Benzoic acid contents in them.
