Profits for Coca-cola bottling firm almost doubled in past year

The Coca-cola bottling business for the UK and Europe has almost doubled its profits for the past year after it was boosted by the reopening of hospitality and acquisitions.

Coca-cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) hailed an “extraordinary year” which saw it post a 98.5% rise in profits after tax to 988 million euros (£828.5 million) for 2021, compared with the previous year.

It added that revenues increased by 30% for the year, significantly driven by its acquisition of Australian bottlers Cocacola Amatil.

The company rebranded from Cocacola European Partners after it snapped up the

Australian arm in May 2021.

CCEP said like-for-like sales were up 4.5% on 2020 levels as customers bought more drinks outside their homes following the reopening of pubs and restaurants.

Nevertheless, the company said this was 5.5% below pre-pandemic levels from 2019.

In Great Britain, the business said sales of Coca-cola, Fanta and Monster all reported growth on pre-pandemic levels as they benefited from strong retail sales as well as a rebound from hospitality.

The group said it is “well-placed” for 2022 and expects a recovery is sales volumes to continue over the short term.