(AFP)] Coca-Cola HBC AG said Thursday that its Russian operations cost it a one-time loss of 190 million euros ($195.4 million) in the first half of the year.
The soft drink bottler also reaffirmed its annual profit prediction, predicting 740 million to 820 million euros, beyond market expectations.
Shares climbed 6% to 2,100 pence.
HBC is one of Coca-Cola’s bottlers globally and holds local Coca-Cola franchises. Coca-Cola owns 20% of HBC.
Coca-Cola Co. left Russia in March after the Ukraine invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.”
HBC said that it had sold all of its Coca-Cola products and stopped making and selling them in Russia, which was once its biggest market.
CEO Zoran Bogdanovic told Reuters that local brands like Dobry, Rich, and Moya Semya are lucrative and self-sufficient since they don’t work with Coca-Cola Co.
As emerging markets remained strong, HBC’s net sales revenue climbed nearly 30% for the six months to July 1. Comparable operating profit was higher than expected, but net profit was lower than expected because of a charge in the first half.
It estimates second-half Russian-related costs of 82 million euros.
Bogdanovic claimed the corporation laid off workers in Russia to shrink.
HBC’s portfolio includes The Macallan, Jack Daniel’s, Sprite, Monster Energy, and Bambi cookies and wafers.
($1=€0.9726)
