Coke CEO: We will hit long-term growth targets

Coca-Cola Co. is well-positioned to “ward off the challenges” of the slowdown in the global economy, Coca-Cola President and CEO Muhtar Kent told industry analysts Friday.

Uncertainty in the economy makes it difficult to accurately predict near-term results, Kent said, speaking at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Fla. The presentation was Webcast on the Coca-Cola corporate site.

“It is possible that we may miss our growth targets a quarter or two this year,” Kent said. “At the same time, I want to assure you that we remain fully committed to meeting or exceeding growth targets over the longer term.”

Last week, Coca-Cola reported for 2008 an 11 percent increase in revenues to $31.9 billion and a 3 percent drop in net income to $5.8 billion. Excluding one-time costs, such as write-downs at its largest bottler, Coca-Cola net income was up 17 percent to $7.4 billion, according to the company.

Coca-Cola will do well because it sells an affordable luxury delivered through a strong global distribution system, Kent said. It also is pushing more innovations to the market, he said.

Among those innovations, the company has redesigned graphics for Sprite and Fanta. It has extended Coke Zero’s no-calorie tag to other drinks such as Fanta and Sprite.

Coca-Cola will add two flavors of Vitaminwater and launch Vitaminwater 10, a low-calorie version of the enhanced water beverage. It has developed a canned coffee drink with Illy that has been introduced in Europe and is being rolled out in New York.

Coke also is testing new equipment, including a fountain machine that can give customers more than 100 different drinks.

“In this time of uncertainty, we are performing with great resolve, great courage,” Kent said, “and an unbending belief that we will come out of this storm, this era, with a better company and a much better system than we entered into this period.”