Coca-Cola said today it remains confident it will meet earnings targets for the current year and that it expects to report worldwide unit case volume growth in the third quarter.
The world's leading soft drink company anticipates its unit case volume, a key measure of financial health in the soft-drink industry, to grow by about 3 per cent in North America for the quarter.
"Even though the underlying fundamental strengths of our business have not changed, caution dictates that we closely monitor the increased uncertainty in macroeconomic conditions," chairman and chief executive Mr Doug Daft said in a statement.
"Not surprisingly, following the tragic events of September 11th, we have experienced lower growth rates in the United States as consumers modified their behaviour," he said.
Shares of Coca-Cola climbed $1.23 to close at $48.03 yesterday.
The shares, which have fallen more than 21 per cent since the start of the year, have underperformed those of main rival PepsiCo, whose shares are down about 4 per cent in the same period.