Coke posts loss

Thursday, April 20, 2000 | 11:30 a.m.

First-quarter earnings at Coca-Cola Co. beat analysts' expectations, helped by a 3.5 percent increase in worldwide sales, though the soft-drink giant reported a net loss for the first three months of the year.

Coke said it lost $58 million, or 2 cents per share, after writing down $405 million in assets for its operations in India and a $275 million charge from its ongoing corporate realignment.

Excluding those one-time items, Coke earned 22 cents a share. The earnings beat by a penny the consensus forecast of 21 cents per share by analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

In the same period last year, Coke earned $747 million, or 30 cents per share.

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