Coca-Cola HBC sees rise in Q1 sales volumes

Drinks bottler Coca-Cola HBC AG said first-quarter sales volumes rose 7.2 percent, helped by four extra selling days versus last year, the earlier timing of the Easter holiday and a good performance in Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The second-largest bottler of the brands of the Coca-Cola Company said currency movements had a 5 percent adverse impact on net sales, resulting in net sales revenue growth of 1.7 percent compared with a year ago.

Chief Executive Dimitris Lois said it was a ?solid quarter,? after plans to stabilize volumes in Europe and to mitigate the adverse impact of currencies in some emerging markets proved effective.

[Reuters]