Coca-Cola Amatil H2 starts well, but COVID 'hotspots' threaten - results data

Coca-Cola Amatil has seen its volumes recover in slightly July and August after value sales in the six months to the end of June fell by just under 10%.

Four months after posting a low single-digit increase in first-quarter sales, the Australia-headquartered group today announced that its six-month sales fell by 9.2%. CCA's domestic market, which accounts for over half of total sales, underwent a "dramatic change" during the half-year, as consumers shifted their buying habits to multi-packs as they stocked up during lockdown.

While New Zealand was described as having been "resilient" for the company in the six months, the combination of COVID measures and Cyclone Harold on performance in neighbouring Fiji meant CCA's Pacific reporting region was down 4.8% in sales. Indonesia was a"story of two very different quarters" in the six months, starting the year well before the country's annual festive period, which takes place in Q2, was hampered by the presence of coronavirus measures.

CCA also noted in today's announcement that volume growth for soft drinks in Australia returned in July - rising 2.4% in the month - although soft drinks volumes flattened in the first two weeks of August due to COVID-19 "hotspots" in New South Wales. In neighbouring New Zealand, volumes were flat in July but have jumped 13.2% in the first half of August, although this was partly due to cycling price increases in July last year.

MD Alison Watkins

"We experienced unique, market-wide challenges this half, ranging from Australian bushfires and Indonesian floods through to the COVID-19 pandemic which impacted all our businesses. Despite these challenges, the resilience of our business was demonstrated by our agile response in addressing changes in channel mix and consumer behaviour, enabling us to grow our market share in key product categories. 

"Given the expected ongoing challenging environment, we remain focused in the immediate term on continuing to drive market share gains, growing our presence in e-commerce and on food aggregator platforms, and leveraging the global insights of the Coca-Cola system and our other major brand partners."

To access Coca-Cola Amatil's half-year results announcement, click here.

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