Greek Coke bottler hit by austerity, costs

The Athens-based company, with operations in 27 countries including Cyprus, Russia and Nigeria, said comparable net income was 109 million euros ($134.5 million), against the average of 110.1 million forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Volumes dropped by 2% year-on-year to 1.01 billion cases while sales rose 1% to 3.43 billion euros, compared with analysts' forecast of 3.42 billion.

The company said it maintained or increased its market volume share in sparkling beverages in most of its markets, including Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.

"We continued to win in the market place, while operating in an increasingly volatile and challenging external environment," the company's chief executive Dimitris Lois said in a statement.

He said that a likely easing of raw material costs in the second half would be offset by unfavourable exchange rates.