MEXICO CITY, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Mexico’s Coca-Cola Femsa
said on Wednesday that its third-quarter profit had
risen 53 percent as recent acquisitions drove up sales.
The company, a joint venture of Coca-Cola Co and
Mexico’s Femsa, said earnings had increased to 3.54
billion pesos ($276 million) from 2.31 billion pesos a year
earlier.
The results beat market expectations. Analysts polled by
Reuters were looking for earnings of 3.15 billion
pesos.
Revenue jumped 20 percent to 36.19 billion pesos, helped by
“the integration of Grupo Tampico, Grupo CIMSA and Grupo Fomento
Queretano in our Mexican territories”, the company said.
Excluding the recently merged territories in Mexico, total
revenues rose 9.6 percent in the quarter.
Coca-Cola Femsa operates in Mexico, Central America,
Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
The company, which is in talks to buy a controlling stake in
Coca-Cola Co operations in the Philippines, has said it expects
to reach an agreement soon.
Analysts have said recent purchases combined with
more-stable prices of raw materials have greatly helped the
company’s results in recent quarters.
“After facing a very tough commodity and volatile currency
environment over the past several quarters, we look forward to a
strong close of the year,” said Carlos Salazar, chief executive
officer.
Coca-Cola Femsa shares, up around 29 percent so far this
year, closed at 171.67 pesos on Tuesday.
