Results for the year ended 31 December 2020

OPERATIONAL AGILITY DELIVERS RESILIENT PERFORMANCE

Coca-Cola HBC AG, a growth-focused Consumer Packaged Goods business and strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company, reports its financial results for the full year ended 31 December 2020. 

Full Year Highlights

• Our business adapted quickly to changing consumer behaviour as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, delivering resilient financial performance reflecting strength of brand portfolio, operational agility and strong execution
• Improving volume trends in second half, with Q4 like-for-like[1] volume down 0.7% and full-year like-for-like¹ volume decline contained at 4.6% YoY
  • Four of our largest markets grew volumes, on a like-for-like¹ basis: Nigeria, Russia, Poland and Ukraine
  • At-home channel volumes up mid-single digit in second half
• FX-neutral revenue per case stabilised in the second half, improving to a 4.1% decline YoY (H1 2020 -6.1% YoY)
  • Driven by negative package mix from lower single-serve volumes
  • Strong positive category mix, Sparkling +0.2%, Adult Sparkling +3.2% and Energy up 17.9%
• Full-year like-for-like¹ FX-neutral revenue declined by 8.5%, while reported revenue declined by 12.7%
  • Strong market share gains in 2020: +40 bps of value share in NARTD and +30 bps in Sparkling
  • Performance by segment mainly driven by each region’s relative exposure to the out-of-home channel as well as timing and severity of lockdowns through the year
• We have created a more agile business; comparable EBIT margin at 11.0%, up 20bps YoY, or 10.6%
  like-for-like¹, down 20bps YoY. Reported EBIT declined by 7.6% to €660.7 million
  • Structural improvement to cost base over several years, shifting fixed costs to variable, enabling efficiency gains
  • Gross profit margin up 20bps through good management of input & supply chain costs and FX hedging
  • Decisive action on discretionary costs early in the pandemic delivered €120m of cost savings
• Comparable EPS of €1.19, down 17.5%, impacted by a higher effective tax rate and a small increase in financing costs; basic EPS declined by 14.9%
• Board of Directors to propose an ordinary dividend of €0.64 per share, a +3.2% increase year-on-year
  • Free cash flow of €497 million, up €54.4 million YoY
  • Financial discipline and strong balance sheet continue to support investment in the business
• Ongoing investment in sustainable solutions for packaging including rPET in-house production and deposit return scheme (DRS) studies

¹Performance, unless stated otherwise, is negatively impacted by the change in classification of our Russian Juice business (Multon), from a joint operation to a joint venture, following its re-organisation, and positively impacted by the inclusion of H1 2020 performance of Bambi, the acquisition of which was cycled in H2 2020. In addition, profitability is positively impacted by the Group’s election to classify share of results of integral equity method investments within operating profit. Like-for-like performance adjusts for all three impacts. For a table of performance measures excluding these impacts, please refer to the ‘Supplementary information’ section.

²For details on APMs refer to ‘Alternative Performance Measures’ and ‘Definitions and reconciliations of APMs’ sections.

³Refer to the condensed consolidated income statement.

⁴Net Profit and comparable net profit refer to net profit and comparable net profit respectively after tax attributable to owners of the parent.