Coca-Cola's Irish profits fall by 78%

THE MAIN Irish arm of Coca-Cola saw profits fall by 78 per cent to €953,000 last year, with €11.6 million in restructuring charges partly to blame.

Coca-Cola HBC Ireland made 130 staff redundant in 2009 after deciding to outsource distribution jobs in four locations.

The company agreed the revised redundancy deal in October of last year following a nine-week dispute. Accounts just filed to the Companies Office show that Coca-Cola HBC paid a dividend of €20 million to its parent the following month.

The filings show that revenues at the Irish company, which distributes and sells Coke brands in Ireland, fell by 13 per cent from €244.6 million to €212.8 million over the course of 2009.

In a report accompanying the numbers, the company’s directors state that the sale of soft drinks was down 13 per cent, while the sale of beer products was down 7 per cent.

The figures show that the company’s operating profits before reorganisation costs increased eight-fold from €1.54 million to €13.6 million after it cut its cost base by €43 million, or 18 per cent, to €199 million.

However, the €11.6 million spent on the reorganisation contributed to the company’s pre-tax profits reducing by 78 per cent from €4.4 million to €953,000.

Some 94 per cent, or €201 million, of the company’s sales in 2009 came from its soft drinks division. The company employed 552 people at the end of last year, down from 623. Staff costs fell by €2.2 million to €28 million.