Coca-Cola Enterprises Earnings: Here is What You Need to Know

Early Monday morning out of Atlanta, Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE:CCE) announced its earnings report for the second quarter of 2012, posting a report that does nto excite traders on the Street. While the overall earnings-per-share of 73 cents was in-line with estimates, the revenue of $2.21 billion – down 8.3 percent over Q2 2011 – missed targets by $60 million. That news has sent the company’s stock price down more than 2 percent before the opening bell to $26.84 a share.

Operating income was listed a $328 million for the quarter, which was down 11 percent over the same period in 2011, but down just 2 percent when accounted for currency exchanges. Volume was down 6 percent due to weather, an increase in the excise tax in France plus some unnamed growth obstacles. The firm announced a plan to repurchase $600 million of its own stock by the end of the calendar year, and it gave earnings guidance of $2.18-$2.24 pershare for the entire year – which, the firm says, includes a 10-percent negativer impact due to currency rates. Second-quarter net sales were reported at $2.2 billion, down 8.5 percent year-over-year.

“As we face a unique combination of unfavorable weather and ongoing marketplace challenges, we continue to closely manage each element of the business to drive results and deliver against our objectives,” said CCE CEO John F. Brock. “By executing against our strong sales and operating plans, controlling costs, and leveraging our strong balance sheet, we remain confident in our ability to create increasing value for our customers, and importantly, for our shareowners.”

Thie numbers do not make for a good start to the week for hedge funds like James Crichton and Adam Weiss’ Scout Capital Management and Alan Fournier’s Pennant Capital Management. At the end of March, Scout had nearly $232 million invested in CCE stock, while Pennant had a $149 million play, though it had sold 1 percent of its shares during the quarter.