Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated on May 12 announced it earned $4.7 million, or basic net income per share of $.51, on net sales of $347.5 million for the first quarter of 2010, compared to net income of $8.5 million, or basic net income per share of $.93, on net sales of $336.3 million for the first quarter of 2009. The results for the first quarter of 2010 included $100,000 of market-to-market gains (both on a pre-tax and after-tax basis) due to the company’s fuel and aluminum hedging programs and a $500,000 increase in income tax expense due to the change in tax law eliminating the tax deduction once available for Medicare Part D subsidies. The results for the first quarter of 2009 included $1.3 million of after-tax gains ($2.1 million on a pre-tax basis) due to the fuel and aluminum hedging programs and a $1.7 million decrease in income tax expense due to the settlement of prior tax positions with a state tax authority.
On a comparable basis, the company earned $5.0 million in the first quarter of 2010, or comparable basic net income per share of $.55, vs. $5.7 million in the first quarter of 2009, or comparable basic net income per share of $.63.
J. Frank Harrison, III, chairman and CEO, said, “2009 was a challenging year for our company, our industry and the entire U.S. economy. These challenges continued as 2010 began; however, we saw signs of improved consumer confidence with a strong performance in March in our future consumption, convenience and on premise business. Our employees are executing our strategies and business plans and we believe we are making excellent progress in the market. We continue to watch the overall economy with particular emphasis on unemployment trends and raw material prices. Despite our first-quarter results being down slightly, we are optimistic about the remainder of 2010.”
William B. Elmore, president and COO, added, “Even though our franchise territory is experiencing high unemployment rates, we do see signs of optimism in our local economies. While commodity prices have been on the rise, our company has done an outstanding job of cost management while exploring and capitalizing on opportunities for increased sales and gross margin. Our sparkling beverage portfolio is performing very strongly and we are responding to the preferences of our consumers with the appealing brands and package offerings of The Coca-Cola Company.”
