BANGKOK, Feb 4: Coca-cola's south-east and west-Asian division said on Wednesday it expects profits from its soft drinks to exceed 1997's record levels despite Asia's economic crisis.Senior executives said sales in the region were continuing to grow along with profits in dollar terms, despite severe currency depreciations in some of the countries in which the division operates.
Exact profit figures by divisions and forecasts were not given as a matter of policy, executives said.
"We increased our volume significantly (last year) and we increased our contribution to group profits in dollar terms," the division's new president, Michael Bascle, told reporters on Wednesday.The division has not lowered 1998 profit forecasts and continued to see volumes grow quarter on quarter, he said.
In Thailand, the largest market of the 13 countries the division supervises, the company achieved a five-per cent year-on-year increase in volumes in 1997.
That was sharply down on the 1996 sales volume increase of 11 percent. Bascle said the 1997 figure was an outstanding achievement in the Thai soft drinks market, which contracted slightly last year.
Regional manager Kirk Wheeler said the increased volumes had helped boost profits in Thailand in 1997 and earnings had been further boosted by price rises and productivity gains. That approach had been repeated successfully through most of the region, he said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
