Coca-Cola's Irish profits increase to €33.9m

PRETAX PROFITS AT Coca-Cola’s Irish operation jumped sharply last year to €33.9 million, up from €1.4 million in 2009, according to documents filed at the Companies Registration Office.

Accounts for Coca-Cola HBC Ireland Ltd show that the company’s turnover of about €206 million in 2010 was down 3 per cent on the previous year.

Some €199 million of its turnover comes from the distribution of soft drinks, down only slightly on the year before, while revenues from beer, stout and non-beverage products fell 40 per cent to €6.9 million.

The company had incurred restructuring costs of €11.6 million in 2009, when it made 130 staff redundant after deciding to outsource distribution jobs in four locations. A deal was agreed after a nine-week dispute with staff.

The company also substantially cut its distribution and administrative expenses in 2010, when its net profit amounted to €31.4 million, up from €1.6 million the previous year.

An interim dividend of €12 million was received by the company from the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. A sum of €12 million was paid by the company to its parent, via a Netherlands-based subsidiary. This sum is down from a dividend of €20 million paid in 2009.

The company has €23.5 million in its profit and loss account, according to the documents.

The Coca-Cola HBC Ireland Group employed 424 people at the end of last year, some 351 of them in sales and marketing and the bulk of the remainder in administration. This is down from a workforce of 552 in 2009 and 623 in 2008, indicating that the number of employees at the group has contracted by about one-third over a two-year period.

The Irish operation is owned by Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company SA, a company incorporated in Greece. It is one of a number of bottlers that hold a franchise from the Coca-Cola Company to distribute its products.

The group has a production facility in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, which began operation in 2007 and is part of Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland Ltd. More than 20 Coca-Cola-owned brands and more than 40 products are distributed by the group in Ireland.