·Worldwide unit case volume grew 6 percent in the fourth quarter and 5 percent for the full year.
·Company generated record operating income during the year and record cash flow from operations of $4.7 billion, up 15 percent from prior year.
·Company adopted the "modified prospective" approach to expensing stock-based compensation, resulting in a full-year 2002 financial impact of $0.11 per share, effective from January 1, 2002. No impact on 2001 or prior financial results from the adoption.
·Reported earnings per share were $1.23 for the year after a reduction of $0.54 resulting from the adoption of SFAS No. 142 (goodwill and other intangible assets), SFAS No. 123 (stock-based compensation), and several charges/gains in Latin America.
·Reported fourth quarter earnings per share were $0.38 after a reduction of $0.02 related to the accounting change for stock-based compensation.
ATLANTA, February 12, 2003 - The Coca-Cola Company reported fourth quarter earnings per share of $0.38 and full-year earnings per share of $1.23. Fourth quarter results include a $0.02 per share expense related to the impact of the adoption of the fair value method of accounting for stock-based compensation. Full-year results also reflect the impact of the adoption of the fair value method, as well as the adoption of SFAS No. 142 - "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets," and other charges/gains. The total net reductions of 2002 reported earnings of $0.54 per share are detailed in a table under "Financial Highlights."
Cash from operations for the year was a record $4.7 billion, compared to $4.1 billion in the prior year, a 15 percent increase. After investing activities (primarily capital expenditures and acquisitions), the Company generated $3.6 billion of cash flow in 2002, a 22 percent increase over 2001, and expects strong cash flows to continue in the future.
Worldwide unit case volume increased 6 percent in the fourth quarter and 5 percent for the year, growing nearly 950 million incremental unit cases in 2002 to a record 18.7 billion unit cases. Unit case volume benefited from the recent strategic acquisitions and license agreements on brands such as Evian, Danone waters and Seagram's Mixers. If the unit case volume associated with the brands acquired during 2002 were excluded, the fourth quarter unit case growth rate would have been 4 percent and the full-year unit case growth rate would have been 4½ percent.
Doug Daft, chairman and chief executive officer, said "Over the past year, The Coca-Cola Company made considerable progress by delivering strong financial results, growing its brands, strengthening bottler relationships, and enhancing its corporate governance practices. In 2002, we began expensing stock options for the first time, resulting in an additional $373 million of expenses in our financial results. Even after considering this, we generated operating income at the highest levels in our Company's history.
"Throughout the year, we outpaced the rest of the industry in each of the major beverage categories. We grew our carbonated soft drinks by 2 percent during the year and noncarbonated beverages by 28 percent. In the juices and juice drinks category, our growth of 21 percent was well ahead of the industry's 4 percent growth. Across 70 countries, Powerade grew 25 percent and was ahead of the industry average, while our water business grew by 68 percent, well above the global industry's 8 percent rate.
"Overall, we were pleased with our results in 2002 in the face of a difficult macroeconomic environment, and we are confident about how we will execute in 2003."