Indonesia a "double-digit" growth opportunity for Amatil

Coca-Cola Amatil has said it expects to achieve double-digit volume growth in its Indonesian market as it looks to build on a 16.4% rise in full-year group profits for 2009.

Speaking at the firm’s earnings conference today (17 February), Coca-Cola Amatil managing director Terry Davis said that the firm hopes to achieve double-digit volume growth as a “minimum”.

“A lot depends on what happens to the inflation rates in Indonesia, which characteristically is between 8-12%,” Davis told analyst.

“We are well ahead of where we expected to be, but the next three to four years is about how we increase per capita consumption and the way we do that is obviously, more product, more capacity. We will be spending more money.”

The firm today booked net profits for the 12 months to the end of December of AUD449m (US$404.3m), compared to 2008. Profits rose by 11% if one-off charges in 2008 are stripped out.

Net sales rose by 7% to AUD4.56bn, driven by an 8% increase in beverage sales to AUD3.89bn. Beverage volumes rose by 4%.

The highlights of the 2009 result included “strong” performances by the Indonesia & PNG and Australian Beverage businesses, the recovery in the second half by the New Zealand business and the earnings growth of more than 20% by the Food & Services Division, the firm said.

CFO Nessa O’Sullivan told analysts: “We continue to have a three-year line of efficiency projects and we see Project Zero as being an ongoing part of growth in our business. We’re going to continue investing in capability so that we can grow the Indonesian business and make sure that we’re not capacity constrained and that we can continue to take the benefit of the investment we’re already put into growing our brands and our market investment in that country.”