US drinks giant Coca-Cola says its net profit jumped 55% in the fourth quarter of last year from a year earlier, lifted by sales volume growth in China, India and other key emerging markets.
The world's leading soft drinks maker reported $1.54 billion in net profit in the final quarter of 2009, in line with market expectations. Full-year profit of $6.82 billion marked a rise of 18% from the previous year.
Quarterly earnings per share were 66 cents, a shade below the 67 cents forecast by most analysts.
Revenue in the fourth quarter of $7.5 billion was up 5% from the same period a year earlier, mainly due to an increase in sales volumes. But revenue for all of 2009 fell 3% to just under $31 billion.
While the North America group's unit sales volume slipped 1% in the fourth quarter, its international volume rose 6%.
Coca-Cola's growth in emerging markets such as India and China is helping it weather the weak US economy, which is slowly recovering from the worst recession in decades.
