16/05/2008 - Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (CCA) shares have jumped more than five per cent in morning trading after the drinks maker forecast high single-digit growth in profit for the 2008 financial year.
CCA shares were up 33 cents, or 4.15 per cent, at $8.28 at 1115 AEST, after reaching as high as $8.38, up 5.4 per cent.
CCA group managing director Terry Davis said on Thursday the company expected to deliver high single-digit growth in underlying net profit for both the first half and the full year.
The guidance was before significant items and on a continuing operations basis.
Addressing the company's annual general meeting in Sydney, Davis also said the rate of increase of CCA's commodity input costs was falling, and the company expected the rate of increase in its cost of goods (COGS) to drop to around three per cent per unit case, on a constant currency basis, in 2008.
That represented a material improvement in the COGS increases the beverage company had had to absorb in both 2006 and 2007, he said.
Davis said CCA was in great shape to respond to changes in market conditions and to capitalise on opportunities he said would "no doubt" arise from recent market turmoil.
He said the company had minimal debt to refinance over the next two years and its strong A3 credit rating had recently been reffirmed by ratings agency Moody's because of its strong operating metrics.
CCA's profit grew 10 per cent to $310.7 million in 2007, as revenue rose 1.9 per cent to $4.52 billion.
Source: AAP NewsWire
