FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coca-Cola HBC AG Capital Markets Day
BECOMING THE LEADING 24/7 BEVERAGE PARTNER
Coca-Cola HBC AG ("Coca-Cola HBC", "Company", "we'), a leading bottler of the brands of The Coca-Cola Company, is hosting an investor event in London today, 3 June 2019, where management will present to investors and analysts the Company's strategy to deliver continued strong growth to 2025.
In 2016, we set out ambitious targets to deliver a step-change in performance in the period to 2020. This included average currency-neutral revenue growth of 4-5% and an 11% Comparable EBIT1 margin by 2020. In 2018 we reported very strong progress against these targets, including currency-neutral revenue growth above the target range for the second consecutive year and a Comparable EBIT margin of 10.2%, an improvement of 270 bps since the start of the plan. These milestones were achieved whilst managing capital prudently and returning significant value to shareholders.
Looking further into the future, we are confident about our continued growth. We operate in a very attractive industry with a unique and broad product portfolio, a clear strategy and the core capabilities to continue delivering strong performance.
Today we will be setting out new financial and operational targets to cover the period up to 2025:
· Average annual revenue growth rate in the range of 5.0-6.0% on a currency-neutral basis (2018: 6.0%);
· Comparable EBIT margin of 11% by 2020, and an improvement of 20 to 40bps a year on average beyond that (2018: 10.2%);
· Achieving our 2025 sustainability commitments; and
· Maintaining our high employee engagement levels
Zoran Bogdanovic, Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola HBC AG, commented
"In 2016 we set out a bold plan for 2020 to deliver strong growth in revenue and margins. We are delivering against these targets and we go into the final stages of this plan as a considerably stronger and more capable organisation.
Today we have announced a new and ambitious plan to continue our strong growth to 2025 which, guided by our vision to become the Leading 24/7 Beverage Partner, targets another step up in financial performance.
The plan builds on our recent consistent, strong performance and the considerable progress we have made in strengthening our business. We have a broad, 24/7 product portfolio, the commercial capabilities and passionate people to continue to win market share and an extensive, diverse territory with attractive growth characteristics. This exciting combination sets us up well for the future and we are confidently looking forward to the next stage in our development."
1 Earnings before interest and tax
Coca-Cola HBC Group
Coca-Cola HBC is a leading bottler of The Coca-Cola Company with an annual sales volume of more than 2 billion unit cases. It has a broad geographic footprint with operations in 28 countries serving a population of more than 600 million people. Coca-Cola HBC offers a diverse range of primarily non-alcoholic
ready-to-drink beverages in the sparkling, juice, water, sport, energy, tea and coffee categories. Coca-Cola HBC is committed to promoting sustainable development in order to create value for its business and for society. This includes providing products that meet the beverage needs of consumers, fostering an open and inclusive work environment, conducting its business in ways that protect and preserve the environment and contribute to the socio-economic development of the local communities. Coca-Cola HBC is ranked among the top sustainability performers in ESG benchmarks such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, CDP, MSCI ESG and FTSE4Good, among others.
Coca-Cola HBC has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: CCH) and its shares are listed on the Athens Exchange (ATHEX: EEE). For more information, please visit http://www.coca-colahellenic.com.
Webcast details
The presentations will be webcast live from 15:00 Swiss time onwards (14:00 London, 16:00 Athens and 9:00 New York time) on the company's website, www.coca-colahellenic.com/en/investors. All the materials related to the Capital Markets Day will be available on the Investor Relations section of our website: www.coca-colahellenic.com/en/investors
Enquiries
Special Note Regarding the Information set out herein
Unless otherwise indicated, this trading update and the financial and operating data or other information
included herein relate to Coca-Cola HBC AG and its subsidiaries ("Coca-Cola HBC" or the "Company" or "we" or the "Group").
Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as "believe", "outlook", "guidance", "intend", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "target" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts, including, among others, statements regarding our future financial position and results, our outlook for 2019 and future years, business strategy and the effects of the global economic slowdown, the impact of the sovereign debt crisis, currency volatility, our recent acquisitions, and restructuring initiatives on our business and financial condition, our future dealings with The Coca-Cola Company, budgets, projected levels of consumption and production, projected raw material and other costs, estimates of capital expenditure, free cash flow, effective tax rates and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect our current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. Our actual results and events could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the risks described in the 2018 Integrated Annual Report for Coca-Cola HBC AG and its subsidiaries. Although we believe that, as of the date of this document, the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that our future results, level of activity, performance or achievements will meet these expectations. Moreover, neither we, nor our directors, employees, advisors nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. After the date of this trading update, unless we are required by law or the rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority to update these forward-looking statements, we will not necessarily update any of these forward-looking statements to conform them either to actual results or to changes in our expectations.
