THE RECESSION took the fizz out of sales and profits at Coca-Cola’s bottlers in the Republic last year, the latest figures show.
Accounts filed by Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (Coca-Cola HBC) with the Companies’ Registration Office show sales in 2008 were down close to 3 per cent at €244 million, from €251 million in 2007.
The directors’ report said sales in soft drinks were down 2 per cent, while other products that the company also distributes were down 3.5 per cent.
Soft drinks, the company’s main business, accounted for €232 million of total sales last year, while other products made up the remaining €12 million.
A slight increase in costs, combined with the €7 million decline in sales, left operating profits for the year at €1.5 million, compared to the €8.8 million profits that Coca-Cola HBC recorded back in 2007.
The directors attributed the fall in profits to the decline in sales over the year.
Coca-Cola HBC is one of the biggest Coca-Cola bottling franchises outside the US.
The company is based in Huntstown in Dublin, but has branches in a number of centres around the country.
The company’s plans to contract out its warehousing and distribution operations with the loss of 130 jobs sparked a strike at its branches recently.
The dispute dragged on for nine weeks, and ended when workers agreed a redundancy package in October.
The directors’ report states that it is too early to establish the cost of the final deal, as consultation with workers “is ongoing”. The report itself was written in October as the row was drawing to a close.
