As the economy recovers, vaccination progresses and people begin to resume their consumption habits, Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF) sells more soft drinks and at a higher price, ending 2021 with positive results.
In the year, the company’s revenues increased 11.1% to 194,804 million pesos, “driven by volume growth, our price initiatives and favorable price-mix effects,” the company said in its report. The operating flow (Ebitda) increased 7.8% to 38,849 million pesos. In both data, the firm excludes extraordinary effects derived from mergers, acquisitions and divestments, and conversion effects resulting from exchange movements.
In terms of net income, Coca-Cola Femsa registered an increase of 52.4% to 15,746 million pesos, which represents a profit margin (measured as profit divided by income) of 8.1%, which is its highest margin since 2012.
This data “reflects the resilience of our business and our ability to accelerate our results. Driven by our team’s unwavering commitment to executing the right strategies in all of our markets, our volumes increased in all of our territories,” John Santa Maria, CEO of Coca-Cola Femsa, said in the earnings release.
Last year, the company’s sales volume rose 5.3% to 3,457.9 million unit cases, due in part to increased mobility. Of the countries where it operates, Colombia and Argentina recorded the largest increase in sales volume, registering an increase of 16.9% and 16.2%.
Mexico, which is the company’s main market, contributing 52% of the total volume, registered an increase of 2% in the year.
“We reiterate our most encouraging vision for the station, since during 2021 in various markets the context of the pandemic implied challenges, but in various countries through vaccination a scenario of better consumption has been presented,” Monex published in a report, in which it issues a “buy” recommendation for the bottling company’s shares with a target price of 126 pesos by the end of 2022, which implies a potential upside of 16%.
During the fourth quarter, Coca-Cola Femsa’s revenues increased 10.5% and its Ebitda rose 7.5%. For its part, its net profit registered an increase of 83%, due to an accounting adjustment related to an increase in interest rates in Brazil and foreign exchange gains.
