Speeches

Remarks by Muhtar Kent at The Coca-Cola Company's 2008 Annual Meeting

Muhtar Kent, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
Wilmington, Delaware
April 16, 2008

As prepared for delivery

Good morning, and thank you, Neville. I'm humbled by the tremendous responsibilities that await me, and honored to be a part of this legacy of growth and sustainability that Neville has injected into our great Company during the past four years. As shareowners of this great business, you have good reason to be excited about our recent performance and to be optimistic about our future. Let me show you why...

Let's start with highlights from our 2007 financial performance, a year of significant accomplishment. By successfully executing our strategies, we delivered strong business results and increased the value to our shareowners:

6 percent unit case volume growth
Net operating revenues increased 20 percent
Operating income grew 10 percent on an ongoing currency neutral basis;
Cash from operations increased 20 percent
Four consecutive quarters of double-digit EPS growth in 2007
We grew more volume share in more categories than any other NARTD beverage system
Revitalized sparkling beverage growth -- up 4 percent
Expanded still beverage growth -- up 12 percent
And added $34 billion of shareowner value.

And for the first quarter of 2008, we continued these strong results with 6 percent unit case volume growth and an earnings per share for the quarter of $0.67, an increase of 20 percent versus the prior year on an ongoing basis.

Now, let's look at 2007 in the context of the past three years. If we look at 2007 performance, The Coca-Cola Company is continuing to achieve solid, consistent growth.

As you know, our long-term growth targets are:

3 to 4 percent volume growth;
6 to 8 percent ongoing, currency neutral operating income growth; and
High single-digit, ongoing EPS growth.

We successfully exceeded these targets in 2007. Our picture of success will be to continue to exceed these targets. On an ongoing, currency-neutral basis, we're also seeing significant gains in operating income. And on an ongoing basis, we reported double-digit earnings per share growth in every quarter of 2007. In fact, we just recorded our 12th consecutive quarter of volume growth of 4 percent or more.

So, how are we achieving this performance?

We are taking rapid and concise action to address issue markets. We made solid advances in Japan, India and the Philippines, and we restored these markets to growth in 2007. In Germany and Great Britain, we have made significant progress, but recognize we still have more to do. And North America continues to be a significant priority. We took aggressive action to stabilize the business in 2007, including the acquisition of glacéau. This year we are working hard to further address this challenging market.

Over the past two years, we have generated incremental volume growth of over 2 billion cases. And what's most important here is that it's balanced growth. Look at where it's coming from -- over half from sparkling beverages and the remaining from a solid mix of organic growth in still beverages and targeted acquisitions. We made several strategic acquisitions to support our global portfolio, including glacéau and Fuze in North America. vitaminwater from glacéau just became our 13th billion dollar brand at retail, joining the ranks of Coca-Cola, POWERADE and GEORGIA Coffee, among others. Our acquisition of Jugos del Valle and Matte Leao expanded our portfolio in the vibrant Mexican and Brazilian markets... and Apollinaris and Lilia gave us growth platforms in the European mineral water market.

Our sparkling beverage growth is achieving its highest rates in almost a decade!

Internationally, Trademark Coke delivered eight consecutive quarters of 5 percent or greater growth through 2007. That is driving revenue and profitability.
And, we continue to expand our still beverages, Internationally achieving five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth through 2007.

Two years ago, there were those who had lost faith in sparkling beverages and Trademark Coke.

We had -- and continue to have -- a different point of view: Sparkling beverages are the oxygen of our Company and this entire industry. Through 2007, our three-cola strategy is generating the highest growth rate we've seen in our family of Trademark Coke brands since 1998.

Let's just take the example of Japan. Many thought sparkling beverages had no growth potential in this important market. From a demographic perspective, Japan is one of the oldest consumer populations in the world. And yet, in 2007, Trademark Coke achieved its highest growth rate in 30 years.

Globally, brand Coca-Cola volume was up three percent. And Coke Zero grew over 250 percent in 2007 and as of the first quarter of 2008, it is now in over 80 markets.

At the same time, in markets where we have both Diet Coke and Coke Zero, our combined diets and lights category grew 8 percent in 2007.

Coke Zero is bringing people back to the sparkling beverage franchise while generating great interest among new consumers. Last year, we sold nearly 450 million cases globally. To put that into perspective, that's roughly the same size as our total business in the Philippines, one of our Top 15 Markets. We've recruited new consumers through aggressive taste trials, promotions and effective merchandising.

An important factor in our performance is the continued growth we're seeing in our still beverage portfolio. Our still beverage initiatives include developing affordable formulations, adding new functional benefits and pursuing relevant acquisitions.

Let me share a few key examples:

Minute Maid Orange Pulpy has provided a strong juice proposition at an affordable price point in emerging markets such as China and India.
In Sports Drinks and Waters, such as POWERADE, Aquarius, DASANI and Ciel, we are adding functional benefits to drive differentiation and value for consumers
Targeted acquisitions such as Jugos Del Valle and Matte Leao have propelled us into the leading category positions in key Latin American markets.
And we still have work to do in coffee and tea, where we are focused on improving our position. A new development is our recently announced formation of a joint venture with illy and the Coca-Cola system. We believe illy is another winner with great brand cachet in Europe and other markets.
"Potential" is an understatement when it comes to describing glacéau. It has been a real game-changer for our system in North America, as the brand achieved triple digit growth in 2007. And, we're just getting started. It has truly created a category unto itself, defined more by its functionality than by its flavors.

glacéau certainly has energized our bottling system, which now distributes the majority of its volume. We are particularly focused on building out North America through greater reach at the point of sale. We are also intent on expanding glacéau internationally; we have already launched this year in Australia and will launch soon in Great Britain, with many more international markets to come. We're really excited about the future of the glacéau brands and their continued contribution to profitable growth.

All of this has helped us strengthen our global competitive position. We are growing more volume share, in more categories, than any other nonalcoholic ready-to-drink, or NARTD, beverage system. Importantly, I would like to highlight that we are also driving retail revenue share gains. As I said earlier, we recognize that we have more work to do in the RTD coffee and tea categories.

If you look at our bottling system today, it is healthier than it has been in quite some time. We know that our future growth as a company will only happen if our bottling partners are healthy, growing and investing with appetite. Our success must always be mutual. All the trend lines here are positive -- solid volume gains, improved profitability and a commitment to reinvest for the long-term growth of our system.

And, if you look at our global organization today, you will see that it is much more effective following a realignment in 2007. We went from 60 business units with two layers to 37 business units with one layer. Importantly, this new global alignment refocused our operations so that we are better positioned to drive our three key pillars: Consumer Marketing, Commercial Leadership and Franchise Leadership.

Clearly, we are on track and achieving quality growth. In the years prior to 2004, Trademark Coke and sparkling beverages really weren't contributing to growth at all. Since the beginning of 2005, this trend line has changed, and we're successfully getting that balanced portfolio growth I talked about. Profitable organic volume growth is at the heart of our business -- it drives sustainable revenue growth.

The tangible progress is obvious. So now, let's look at the opportunities we see ahead. I believe there is no better packaged goods consumer business to be in, today or in the future, than the nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverage industry.

Let's look at why? Between now and 2010, our industry is expected to grow faster than the world's GDP and ahead of growth rates we'll see in: cosmetics, alcoholic beverages, packaged foods and household care.

This vitality is being shaped by three important mega-trends:

For the first time in history, the majority of the world's population is now living in urban centers. Over the next decade, 65 million people annually will migrate to these urban centers. That's the equivalent of adding a city the size of Metro New York to our planet every 90 days.
The second mega trend is the rise of middle class consumers in emerging markets around the world. In the so-called BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- the middle class will grow in total by 700 million people by 2015.
The third trend is the natural conversion to RTD beverages that comes with on-the-go, urban, middle-class lifestyles. This conversion results in ready-to-drink beverages becoming part of everyday life. For our vibrant industry, it all comes down to a future of more consumers... with more money... drinking more beverages.

To capture these opportunities, we have a solid strategy to generate sustainable and profitable growth for The Coca-Cola Company. And while our time today precludes me from taking you through all the details, let me share the top-line highlights around the five key priorities that shape our strategy:

Priority 1: Grow our sparkling leadership -- the lifeblood of our business today and tomorrow;
Priority 2: Rapidly grow our expanding still beverage portfolio both organically and through leveraged acquisitions;
Priority 3: Leverage a balanced geographic mix;
Priority 4: Accelerate a rich pipeline of innovation; and
Priority 5: Strengthen our system capability through effective Consumer Marketing, Commercial and Franchise Leadership.

The reality is that the financial health of our business is only as strong as the health of the communities and people we serve. Our philosophy is to partner with other business, government and civil organizations to create sustainable communities.

Our main focus today is on water, packaging, climate change and well-being, and we have several initiatives underway. One visible manifestation of these efforts is the Climate Friendly Cooler you see here at this meeting.

There's no question that we have the opportunities, the positioning, the priorities and the people to continue to win in the marketplace.

Importantly for you, our business success is driving results for our shareowners. We generate significant cash flow from operations -- 40 billion dollars over the last seven years. We're now also providing solid returns to shareowners.

Last year, shareowners received a 30 percent total return, and dividends have grown at a compounded growth rate of 11 percent over the last five years.

My final message for you today is that we are confident in our future; confident in our ability to grow a strong and balanced portfolio; confident in our ability to continue winning.

Read Neville Isdell's remarks from the Annual Meeting of Shareowners.

View 2008 Annual Meeting webcast