COCA-COLA'S PROFIT FALLS 24% AS SALES DECLINE

[story courtesy of www.killercoke.org]

"The Coca-Cola Company said yesterday that its third-quarter earnings fell 24 percent as higher prices hurt sales in the United States and Europe. Net income fell to $935 million, or 39 cents a share, from $1.22 billion, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier, the company said. Sales fell 0.2 percent to $5.66 billion. Ineffective advertising, price increases and a work force suffering from poor morale have hurt sales in the United States, the company's biggest market, the chief executive, E. Neville Isdell, said. Some improvements in operations and new products will not occur until 2006, he said in a conference call with investors.

 Coca-Cola is based in Atlanta." (Bloomberg News) from The New York Times, 10/22/04 Does anyone see anything omitted from this report? They have blamed the decline in sales to ineffective advertising, price increases and poor morale, even bad weather, but no mention of the worldwide Campaign to Stop Killer Coke. In addition, SunTrust Banks, heavily invested in Coke, is also having financial difficulty according to the media. 

In June, Fortune http://www.killercoke.org/realstory.htm  magazine stated: "Coke's decision not to investigate possible union-related murders at its bottlers in Colombia has become a public relations nightmare." Bloomberg Markets http://www.killercoke.org/cokewoe.htm stated in July, that "New Coca-Cola CEO E. Neville Isdell faces declining U.S. market share, an antitrust investigation in Europe, labor unrest in Colombia and environmental charges in India."

Poor morale? Coke Secretary Deval Patrick resigned, according to the Washington Post http://www.killercoke.org/washpost422.htm, because the company retracted a promise to support an independent investigation of human rights abuses in Colombia as requested by Deval when the Campaign distributed leaflets at a forum at which he was receiving an award.

 In October, 2004 Killer-Coke campaign workers visiteduniversities in schools in Hamilton, London and Kingston, winding up with a rally at the Steelworkers Hall in Toronto. For more information see http://www.killercoke.org. NOTE: www.Killercoke Web sites ending with other extensions like .com are run by Coca-Cola. Be warned.