Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. Provides First Quarter 2001 Volume and Earnings Update.Business Editors ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2001 Coca-Cola Enterprises Coca-Cola Enterprises NYSE: CCE is the largest bottler by volume in the Coca-Cola System. It is the anchor bottler for North America and parts of Europe. The company is the bottler of Coca-Cola and its other soft drink products, and in some areas a few other soft drink today announced it expects total volume growth of approximately 1 1/2 percent for first quarter 2001. North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. volume is expected to be flat versus prior year with volume growth in Europe of approximately 6 percent. As a result of soft North American volume and a competitive pricing environment that limited the Company's ability to fully reach planned pricing levels, first-quarter 2001 earnings per share are now expected to range from a loss of 19 cents to 21 cents. "The first quarter proved especially challenging as North American volume growth in the second half of the quarter was offset by a decline in January," said John R. Alm, president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. . "While we anticipated the majority of our 2001 volume and profit growth would be weighted to the second and third quarters, market conditions in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. during the first quarter limited our progress in growing supermarket channel profitability. We remain committed to our long-term strategy of improving returns in the take-home channels of our business, but the pace of this improvement in 2001 may be constrained by continued price-based competitive initiatives. "We believe upcoming marketing activity and new product introductions will enable us to accelerate North American volume growth for the remainder of the year," said Mr. Alm. "However, our ability to deliver our full-year profit objectives will not be clear until we enter our peak selling months, but it is unlikely that we will be able to offset the lower financial results of the first quarter." The Company will release first quarter 2001 earnings on April 19th, followed by an analyst and investor conference call. Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : CCE CCE Cornell Cooperative Extension CCE Corporate and Continuing Education CCE Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. CCE Commission de Coopération Environnementale CCE Centre for Continuing Education CCE College of Continuing Education CCE Certified Computer Examiner ) is the world's largest marketer, distributor, and producer of bottle and can liquid nonalcoholic non·al·co·hol·ic adj. A beverage usually containing less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. refreshment. Coca-Cola Enterprises sells approximately 74 percent of The Coca-Cola Company's bottle and can volume in North America and is the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. , Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands. Forward-Looking Statements Included in this news release are several forward-looking management comments and other statements that reflect management's current outlook for future periods. As always, these expectations are based on the currently available competitive, financial, and economic data along with the Company's operating plans and are subject to future events and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this news release should be read in conjunction with the detailed cautionary statements found on page 48 of the Company's 2000 Annual Report. |
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