Coca-Cola has an explanation for why its upcoming results this quarter may be down.
The company says that a recent merger in its European bottling business could drag down results for the quarter, the Wall Street Journal reported. In August, three Coca-Cola (KO) bottling operations merged into one in an effort to cut costs as sales have been slowing down. The publication wrote that the deal combined $12 billion in revenue for 13 countries in Europe.
Per the article:
Coke now expects the net impact of acquisitions, divestitures and other structural items to be a 5 to 6 point headwind on revenue and a 4 to 5 point headwind on income before taxes in the second quarter.
The three bottlers that merged were Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), Spain’s Coca-Cola Iberian Partners SA, and Germany’s Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke AG, the Journal reported.
In May, Fortune reported that Coke suspended production in Venezuela due to a sugar shortage. In April, Coca-Cola’s shares started sliding because Wall Street analysts didn’t believe the company’s bullish targets.
“We are confident, definitely, in the strategy and initiatives in place to support our growth targets over the course of the year,” said CEO Muhtar Kent at the time in a conference call with analysts.
