Aust bottler CCA lifts profit 36 percent

CCA shares rose more than 4 percent Friday after unveiling its first-half profit

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australian beverage company Coca-Cola Amatil has lifted first-half profit 36 percent to $55 million on strong growth in Australia, Indonesia and the Pacific.

Proceeds from the sale of CCA's 70 percent-held bottling business in the Philippines added an extraordinary profit of $131 million to its result for the six months to the end of June.

CCA, which bought the Philippines stake in the mid-1990s, sold the business back to Manila-based San Miguel Corp and The Coca-Cola Company for $1.16 billion in April.

The company said its results improved everywhere except South Korea, where trading profit was below the 2000 figure.

Total sales volume was up 7 percent to 289 million cases and sales revenue rose 9.8 percent to $813 million (Aust. $1585 million) for the six months. The result included four months of revenue from the Philippines operation.

Raw material costs 'significantly higher'

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The company said its margins remained strong despite "significantly higher" raw material costs.

It said Indonesia continued to show strong volume and profit growth, but in the second quarter there was a slowdown in demand attributed to lower consumer confidence, political uncertainty and general price inflation.

It noted that depreciation of the Indonesian currency had a significant effect on costs denominated in US dollars, such as sugar and packaging, as well as on translated Australian dollar earnings.

"We will continue to monitor conditions in Indonesia closely to ensure that the rate of investment in new infrastructure is appropriate for the level of expected growth in consumer demand," the company said.

CCA is the largest softdrink bottler in the Asia Pacific region. It operates in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, South Korea and Indonesia and employs 17,000 people.

Shares in CCA, which closed Thursday at A$5.30, rose more than 4.7 percent after the results were posted with the Australian Stock Exchange Friday morning.

The shares hit a 12-month record intraday high of A$5.57 before easing slightly in late afternoon trade to A$5.55.