Coca-Cola has announced its plan to reinvest a significant portion of its capital investment to increase capacity in India. The company's India business witnessed robust growth in 2023 and is now increasing investments to expand its capacity. India and Brazil led the Asia-Pacific region's growth. Coca-Cola's President and Chief Financial Officer, John Murphy, said that a significant portion of its expected capital investment increase is to build capacity for Fairlife (global dairy business) and its India business.
The company's developing and emerging markets grew by 2% in the December quarter, driven by growth in India and Brazil. Coca-Cola's bottling partner, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), has also announced its investment of Rs 3,000 crore to manufacture juices and aerated drinks in Gujarat, with the capacity expected to go online by 2026.
Coca-Cola reported unit case volume growth of 2% for the full year, and developed markets grew by 1%, led by Mexico and Germany. The company increased its value share in non-aerated, ready-to-drink beverages in 2023, led by India, the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan. Coca-Cola expects to generate close to $9.2 billion in free cash flow, with about $11.4 billion in cash flow from operations and a lower capital expenditure of $2.2 billion in the year 2024.
Murphy said that the company has ample flexibility to reinvest in its business to drive growth and return capital to its shareholders, driven by underlying cash flow generation and current balance sheet strength. However, the company did not share individual market share gains in the markets as mentioned earlier.
.jpg "Artificial Intelligence to Revolutionize Advanced Chip Design")
