Strong volume growth has propelled Coca-Cola HBC to 11.6% revenue growth in the first quarter.
An early Easter and four extra selling days pushed the bottler to 9.6% volume growth. Even without the extra days, HBC’s volumes would have jumped 3.5% as consumers slaked their thirst on sparkling and energy drinks.
The bottler achieved volume and revenue growth across all segments, and “resilient” volumes in established markets were aided by a 15% jump in organic revenues in emerging markets.
HBC’s strong performance matched that of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Coca-Cola itself, whose results were released last week.
“We delivered a good start to the year, with organic revenue growth of 11.6% and ongoing share gains, representing high-quality results despite challenging macro conditions,” said CEO Zoran Bogdanovic.
He added the strong underlying volume growth was “in line with” company plans.
“We made progress against our strategy, investing in our unique 24/7 portfolio, activating Coke & Meals campaigns across our markets, and launching innovations for Monster and Powerade. We continue to invest in our bespoke capabilities, which enabled strong segmented execution across all markets.”
The results showed a “solid start” for the group in 2026, according to Bernstein analyst Nadine Sarwat.
“Crucially, the beat appears to be due to underlying outperformance rather than extra selling days,” she noted.
Coca-Cola HBC said it remained “on track” to complete the acquisition of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa in the second half of the year, the €1.4bn cash consideration for which has now been raised in bonds.
HBC’s acquisition will create the world’s second-largest drinks bottler. Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is currently owned by The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments, producing around 40% of Coca-Cola volumes sold across Africa.
The group reiterated its financial guidance for the year. It expects organic revenue growth of 6% to 7% over the next several years.
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