LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Coca-Cola HBC on Wednesday posted record profits last year driven by surging sales and volumes for sparkling drinks and coffee combined with costs easing in the second half.

The bottling company said comparable operating profit for the year to December 31 rose 7.7% to €1.08bn. It expects profit to grow 3% to 9% this year.

Net sales were up 10.7% to €10.1bn, while volumes were up 4.6% to 2.835bn unit cases.

Comparable gross profit margin was 80 basis points higher in the full year, reflecting easing cost pressures in the second half of the year, the company added.

Organic revenue per case for 2023 was up 15%. The company also declared a €0.93 per share dividend, up 19.2% year on year.

"While we expect the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment to remain challenging, we remain confident that we will continue to make progress against our medium-term growth targets," said chief executive Zoran Bogdanovic.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

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