Coca-Cola Europacific's stock plunges despite rising profits

BarcelonaCoca-Cola bottler Europacific Partners (CCEP) announced this Wednesday an increase in sales and profits for the first six months of this year, but the improved results have not prevented the company's shares from plummeting on the Spanish stock market.

Specifically, CCEP shares on the Spanish stock market were down around 9.6% at 1:30 p.m., although at certain points in the morning the price drop exceeded 11%. Thus, each share is worth approximately 76.6 euros.

The company chaired by Catalan Sol Daurella (currently considered the richest person in Catalonia) announced in a statement early Wednesday that it closed the first half of this year with a turnover of €10.274 billion, 4.5% more than the same period in 2024. Regarding net profit, it was €937 million, an increase of 15.5% compared to the first half. In comparable terms (adjusting for currency fluctuations and other variables), profit increased by 2.9% and sales by 4.5%.

The Iberian market (Spain and Portugal) was the second for the multinational, surpassed only by the United Kingdom, although it only registered an increase in sales of 1.2%, to €913 million.

"Although the global macroeconomic environment is volatile, we remain resilient," said the group's CEO, Damian Gammell, in statements included in the statement. The executive emphasized the "solidity" of the bottling company's business and its ability to "continuously generate value for shareholders."

CCEP has maintained its forecasts for this year without major changes, with estimated revenue growth for the 2025 financial year of between 3% and 4%, although it expects to increase operating profit by 7%, in line with the 7.3% increase (to €1.364 billion) in the first half of the year.

Nestea's switch to Fuze Tea

The company also highlighted the positive performance of its tea beverage business following the launch of the Fuze Tea brand to replace Nestea, whose manufacturing, bottling, and distribution have been returned to the Swiss company Nestlé since last January. According to CCEP, the market launch of Fuze Tea is "progressing better than expected," as the transition from one beverage to another has caused a "slight decrease in sales volume," but this is positive when the effects of the product change are discounted.