ATLANTA, USA – The Coca‑Cola Company on Tuesday reported fourth quarter and full-year results beating analysts’ expectations. Coffee grew 11% for the quarter and 13% for the year, primarily driven by cycling the impact of pandemic-related Costa retail store closures in the United Kingdom in the prior year and the continued expansion of Costa coffee across markets.
Tea declined 9% for the quarter and grew 1% for the year. This performance benefited from strong growth of Fuze Tea in Latin America and was unfavorably impacted by doğadan performance in Turkey.
“While 2022 brought many challenges, we are proud of our overall results in a dynamic operating environment,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca‑Cola Company.
The Coca‑Cola Company: Quarterly / Full-Year Performance
Revenues: For the quarter, net revenues were strong, growing 7% to $10.1 billion. Organic revenues (non-GAAP) grew 15%. Organic revenue (non-GAAP) performance was strong across operating segments and included 12% growth in price/mix and 2% growth in concentrate sales. The quarter included one additional day, which resulted in a 1-point tailwind to revenue growth. The quarter also benefited from the timing of concentrate shipments. For the full year, net revenues grew 11% to $43.0 billion, and organic revenues (non-GAAP) grew 16%. This performance was driven by 11% growth in price/mix and 5% growth in concentrate sales.
Operating Margin: For the quarter, operating margin, which included items impacting comparability, was 20.5% versus 17.7% in the prior year, while comparable operating margin (non-GAAP) was 22.7% versus 22.1% in the prior year. For the full year, operating margin, which included items impacting comparability, was 25.4% versus 26.7% in the prior year, while comparable operating margin (non-GAAP) was 28.7% in both the current year and the prior year. For both the quarter and the full year, operating margin benefited from strong topline growth but was unfavorably impacted by the BODYARMOR acquisition, higher operating costs, an increase in marketing investments versus the prior year, currency headwinds and items impacting comparability.
Earnings per share: For the quarter, EPS declined 16% to $0.47, and comparable EPS (non-GAAP) was even at $0.45. EPS performance included the impact of a 12-point currency headwind, while comparable EPS (non-GAAP) performance included the impact of an 11-point currency headwind. For the full year, EPS declined 3% to $2.19, and comparable EPS (non-GAAP) grew 7% to $2.48. EPS performance included the impact of an 11-point currency headwind, while comparable EPS (non-GAAP) performance included the impact of a 10-point currency headwind.
Market share: For both the quarter and the full year, the company gained value share in total nonalcoholic ready-to-drink (“NARTD”) beverages, which included share gains in both at-home and away-from-home channels.
Cash flow: Cash flow from operations was $11.0 billion for the full year, a decline of $1.6 billion versus the prior year, as strong business performance was more than offset by the deliberate buildup of inventory in the face of a volatile commodity environment, cycling working capital benefits from the prior year, and higher tax payments and annual incentive payments in 2022. Free cash flow (non-GAAP) was $9.5 billion, a decline of $1.7 billion versus the prior year.
