Pandemic’s Impact on Coca-Cola
A Financial Statement Analysis Case
The Situation
The year 2020 will always be remembered as the year when an unexpected pandemic immobilized the world. The COVID-19 pandemic is an infectious disease that is exceedingly contagious (Centers for Disease Control, XXXXXXXXXXCOVID-19 was first found in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019, and in the next few months, it had already spread worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (World Health Organization, XXXXXXXXXXSince then, there has been a total of over 53 million cases and 820 thousand deaths in the United States alone (Centers for Disease Control, 2021b).
In response to the pandemic, there has been a worldwide shutdown that impacted all areas of life. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Pandemic shutdown caused about 56% of businesses to face reduced demand for their products or services (Bureau of Labor Statistics, XXXXXXXXXXThe Coca-Cola Company is a global beverage business that distributes its product in multiple ways, including grocery stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and amusement parks (The Coca-Cola Company, 2022c). Many of these channels were closed due to Covid-19. The Stock Price for Coca-Cola fell sharply at the beginning of the Pandemic as seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Coca-Cola Stock Price
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Source: Yahoo!Finance
Coca-Cola's cu
ent Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board, James Quincey, would like to know how the company faired financially (The Coca-Cola Company, 2022a). Prepare a report of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on Coca-Cola and any recommendations on facing some common challenges plaguing many beverage companies.
Introduction to Coca Cola
The first Coca-Cola was sold back on May 8, 1886, by Dr. John Pemberton in his Pharmacy, Jacobs's Pharmacy, for five cents a glass (The Coca-Cola Company, 2022b).
Originally, Coca-Cola was made using coca leaf and kola nut, which inspired the name (Britannica, XXXXXXXXXXPemberton marketed his drink as a remedy for common illnesses. Before passing away, Pemberton sold a majority of his business to another pharmacist Asa Candler, who then incorporated Coca-Cola in 1892.
When Coca-Cola was first invented, about nine glasses were sold per day; by 1900 Coca Cola extended to every state (The Coca-Cola Company, 2022d). While distribution was done through fountain drinks only, in 1899, Coca-Cola negotiated with a bottling company which helped increase popularity and distribution. Coca-Cola's mission statement "is to craft the
ands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit. And done in ways that create a more sustainable business and better-shared future that makes a difference in people's lives, communities, and our planet (The Coca-Cola Company, 2022e)."
Today, the Coca-Cola Company has about 200 different
ands sold in over 200 countries with more than 1.9 billion servings a day. Other than their flagship
and, Coca-Cola, they also sell other Sparkling flavors (such as Sprite and Fanta); Nutrition, Juice, Dairy and Plant drinks (such as the Simply
and and Minute Maid); and Hydration, Sports, Tea, and Coffee drinks (such as SmartWater, Powerade, FuzeTea, and Costa Coffee). They are ever-changing and growing their beverage portfolio by discontinuing
ands that are not in demand and identifying product opportunities to fill in the gap. For example, in 2020, they launched their new product AHA, sparkling water with eight different flavors. They have also
Beverage Industry
Coca-Cola belongs to the non-alcoholic beverage industry, including ca
onated and nonca
onated soft drinks, bottled water, and ice (First Research, XXXXXXXXXXIn the Non-Alcoholic beverage, most of the revenue comes from soft drink sales (86%), as shown in Figure 2. Soft drinks are not only ca
onated soft drinks (CSD) but also include sports and energy drinks, ca
onated water, tea, and coffee drinks.
Figure 2: Revenue of Non-Alcoholic Beverage by segment, 2019
Soft Drinks
86
%
Bottled
Wate
12
%
Ice
2
%
Source(s): First Research Industry Profile
First Research classifies the non-alcoholic beverage industry with low growth ratings because of the many challenges that limit its growth. Since geographical regions and different demographics vary in consumer taste, providing a product with high demand can prove challenging. Beverage companies also have significant expenses; the average soft drink manufacturers have a gross margin of about 30% of net revenue. Beverage companies have a high cost for manufacturing their product. Many material costs are expansive and can vary from time to time. High marketing spending is also required to promote the
and and product.
Another challenge that the beverage industry faces, specifically the soft drink industry, is health and obesity concerns. Many health groups blame soda companies like Coca-Cola for contributing to the "obesity pandemic" in the United States. There have been calls to remove products in the school cafeteria in order to limit children's high sugar and calorie intake. Even sales for diet sodas have taken a hit. Even bottled water companies receive backlash from environmentalists and face lawsuits for their overuse of many communities' natural spring water.
According to Statista (2021), in 2020, the non-alcoholic beverage industry earned a revenue of 1.038 trillion U.S. dollars, as shown in Figure 3. The industry receives its most significant share of revenue from the United States. It is estimated that the U.S. consumes about 145 billion liters of non-alcoholic beverages. Although this was a drop of 7.7% from the previous year, sales are expected to recover and continue to increase in the upcoming years.
Figure 3: Worldwide non-alcoholic beverage market revenue from 2012 to 2025 (in million U.S. dollars)
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Source(s): Statista; Statista Consumer Market Outlook
In terms of volume growth by different segments, there is an immediate rebound in 2021 after the pandemic, as seen in Figure 4. In the upcoming years, there seems to be a positive average growth of 2% across beverage segments. This positive outlook on the non-alcoholic beverage industry may be due to the number of opportunities presented to companies to innovate on their product.
Figure 4: Non-Alcoholic Beverage Market Volume Growth Worldwide from 2013 to 2026, by segment
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%
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%
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%
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Bottled Wate
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Juices
Source(s): Statista; Statista Consumer Market Outlook
First Research XXXXXXXXXXhas identified opportunities such as ready-to-drink tea and coffees, creating healthy alternatives, taking advantage of emerging markets like Latin America, and Ecommerce sales. Many companies are already tackling some of the challenges and accusations they face. They are veering towards more healthy drinking options such as sparkling water and using all-natural sweeteners. Many
ands promote business sustainability and packaging their product in more environmentally friendly, recyclable material.
In terms of sales, Anheuser-Busch is the leading beverage company with about 46 billion U.S. dollars in sales, as shown in figure 5 (Statista, XXXXXXXXXXWith multiple mergers and acquisitions, Anheuser-Busch's portfolio holds over 405 of the beer market in the United States.
Figure 5: Leading Beverage Companies Worldwide in 2020, based on sales
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20000
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50000
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Nestlé SA
The Coca-Cola Co.
PepsiCo Inc.
Heineken N.V.
Suntory Holdings Ltd.
Sta
ucks Corp.
Diageo PLC
Keurig Dr Peppe
Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Beverage Companies Sales
Source(s): Statista; Beverage Industry Magazine
Although Coca-Cola sits in third place of leading beverage companies with a sale of over 33 billion U.S. dollars, they are first for
and value in the non-alcoholic beverage
and industry. According to Statista, Coca-Cola's
and value is over 33 billion. This by far surpasses their next competitor Pepsico who has a
and value of 18 billion. Coca-Cola also outspends Pepsico in advertising its product. Coca-Cola has a majority share of the United States CSD market with about 45 percent, while PepsiCo has about 26 percent and Keurig Dr. Pepper about 21 percent.
Figure 6: Most Valuable Non-Alcoholic beverage
ands of 2020 (in million U.S. dollars)
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Coca-Cola
Pepsi
Red Bull
Nescafé
Monste
Sprite
Gatorade
Dr. Peppe
Mountain Dew
Lipton
Source(s): Statista, Brand Finance
Coca-Cola’s response to COVID-19
The COVID-19 Pandemic affected most businesses around the world, including Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola responded by supporting their stakeholders in the following ways:
· Protect employees by allowing office employees to work from home and install all necessary and recommended safeguards in the production and distribution facilities.
· Working with suppliers to make sure demands were met. They also accelerated 1billion dollars in payment to aid suppliers during the crisis.
· Helping customers receive their product with limited contact delivery and boosting up ecommerce. They also rolled out their innovative touch-free fountain dispenser, allowing consumers to choose which Coca-Cola product they wished without contact.
· Support communities by making large donations and producing hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment for first responders and healthcare workers.
Discussion Questions
Financial statement is provided in Exhibits 1 and 2 for the last 3 years. The industry averages can be found in Exhibit 3.
Provide a summary of the issue that Coca-Cola face. Prepare a 3-5-pages report that analyzes the financial condition of Coca-Cola. Included in the memo should be a section describing the company’s liquidity, asset management, debt management, profitability, market value and your recommendations to Coca-Cola. Make sure that you include the heading of each section in your report. Also include the following financial exhibits in excel:
o Vertical (common size) analysis of income statement and balance sheet o Horizontal (percent-change) analysis of income statement and balance sheet o Complete Ratio Analysis (for all 3 years) and Industry comparison. For each area, the students need to determine if the pandemic and strategic changes made have resulted in an improved and worsening financial position for the company.