Coca-Cola's fourth quarter earnings matched analysts’ expectations, while the soft drink giant warned about a potential slowing of comparable sales in 2019.
For the three months ending December, Coke's earnings of 43 cents per share was +9% higher compared to the year-ago quarter, and was in line with Wall Street consensus estimates.
However, the company's group revenues of $7.1 billion was slightly lower than the $7.06 billion analysts' estimate. It was also -6% below the year-ago period’s figure.
For 2019, Coca-Cola projects organic sales growth of +4% - which would be slower than 2018’s +5%. The company anticipates unfavorable currency movements to pull back net revenues by 6% to 7%. Coke expects comparable non-GAAP earnings for 2019 to be in the range of +/- 1% of 2018's $2.08.