Coca-Cola HBC (LSE:CCH) strengthened its full-year earnings outlook on Wednesday after reporting better-than-expected first-half results, supported by resilient consumer demand and higher sales linked to FIFA World Cup activity. The upbeat update helped lift the company’s shares by more than 3%.
The drinks bottler now expects organic operating profit growth of between 8% and 10% in 2026, tightening its previous guidance of 7% to 10% towards the upper end of the range. That compares with the company-compiled analyst consensus of 9.1%. It also anticipates organic revenue growth to finish near the top of its 6% to 7% target range, exceeding the 6.2% consensus estimate.
Coca-Cola HBC is among the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottling partners, manufacturing and distributing brands such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, coffee, energy drinks and sparkling water across 29 markets in Europe, Africa and Asia. Headquartered in Switzerland and listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company operates under a franchise agreement with Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO).
For the six months ended July 3, comparable operating profit reached €760.1 million, comfortably ahead of the €731.1 million expected by analysts based on company-compiled forecasts.
Organic net sales revenue increased 9.6% to €6.23 billion during the first half, surpassing the consensus estimate of €6.15 billion. Organic sales volumes climbed 7.5%, also outperforming analyst expectations of 6.2%.
Management said marketing campaigns tied to the FIFA World Cup delivered strong consumer engagement across its territories, helping to support sales momentum. Despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, the company said it remains confident in the strength of its brand portfolio and long-term growth prospects.
Coca-Cola HBC also confirmed that it remains on schedule to complete the acquisition of its African bottling business during the second half of the year.
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