Coca Cola Corporation Is an American Icon

Coca Cola Corporation is an American Icon of business that has established a new direction for American Industry operations in the 20th century. According to Moxley (2002), "Beginning with its invention in 1886 by druggist John "Doc" Pemberton in Atlanta, the development of the product is shown, along with the changes in American life that accompanied -- and affected -- the prices. We learn that by giving out free samples and pervasive advertising, Coca-Cola became known throughout the country." (Moxley, 2002)

Coke was a known brand by the turn of the 20th century. The use of free samples gave future customers the chance to try the product risk-free and instil confidence in the owners belief in the quality of the product. According to Moxley (2002), "Bottling plants were shipped around the world, laying the base or the worldwide expansion of the product in the late 1940s and 1950s. Throughout, the evolution of advertising and changes in packaging is shown through print and film ads, demonstrating the changes brought about by the culture of the time." (Moxley, 2002)

Coke's history points to the importance of packaging and marketing as a function of distribution and sales. The company developed bottling plants to bottle the elixir and establish a quantification method to manage inventory of bottles and to plan distribution routes and channels. According to Dietz (1993), "During World War II the U.S. military allowed Coke bottling plants to be set up wherever U.S. troops were stationed, which created a world-wide distribution system. The popularity of the drink extended even to the Soviets. And then there is the matter of the introduction of "New Coke." It is worth the price of the book to read what happened when Roberto Goizueta, the chairman of Coca-Cola, went to the aged, ailing Robert Woodruff to tell him of the plan to change the sacred formula for Coke, so that it could hold its own in taste-test comparisons with Pepsi." (Dietz, 1993)

Current Operations

Coke currently operates in each continent across the world and employs an international workforce in companies throughout the world. Coke and Cadbury Schweppes merged at the beginning of the millennium. M&A activity has been rather common in the operations of Coke.

According to Financial Markets (2010), "Today begins the next era of winning for our North America system" said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company. "With the completion of this transaction, the Coca-Cola Company has renamed the sales and operational elements of the North American businesses, Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc. ("CCR") and Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada Company, which will be wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Coca-Cola Company and led by CCR President and CEO Steve Cahillane. CCR will integrate five business components into a 21st-century bottling and customer service operation in both the U.S. And Canada. The five components formerly were CCE North America; CCNA Foodservice; the Minute Maid and Odwalla juice businesses; CCNA Supply Chain Operations and the Company-owned bottling operations in Philadelphia." (Financial Markets, 2010)

Financial Analysis

The Coca Cola bond situation as of November of 2010 involved its biggest offering of debentures since this type of financing options was been allowed. The $4.5 billion fundraising offering to fund interest costs accrued from debt put on the books from the bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. The company also sold 3-year notes (Maheshwari, Stanford, 2010) priced near the Wal-Mart offering on October 18th of 2010. Having a pricing similar to Wal-Mart, which receives favourable pricing is indicative of a company whom maintains a strong debt rating with the S&P, and Moody's debt rating services.

According to Maheshwari & Stanford (2010), "Coca-Cola joins Dow Chemical Co., Harvard University and General Electric Capital Corporation in marketing bonds today with investment-grade company borrowing costs near record lows. Coca-Cola assumed $8 billion of debt when it closed October 3 on its acquisition of Coca-Cola Enterprises' North American operations, of which it already owned 34%. The debt will be senior unsecured obligations." (Maheshwari, Stanford, 2010)

The Coca-Cola Corporation had net operating revenues of the following amounts

2009

2008

2007

2006

$30,990

$31,944

$28,857

$24,088

Net income attributable to shareholders:

$6,824

$5,807

$5,981

$5,080

Per Share Data; Basic net income, Diluted net income, Cash dividends

$2.95

$2.51

$2.59

$2.16

$2.93

$2.49

$2.57

$2.16

$1.64

$1.52

$1.36

$1.24

Balance Sheet Data; Total assets, Long-term debt

$48,671

$40,519

$43,269

$29,963

$5,059

$2,781

$3,277

$1,314

Net Operating Revenues (In Millions)

$30,990

$31,994

$28,857

Operating Income (In Millions)

$7,252

$8,446

$8,231

Operating Cash Flow (In Millions)

$8,186

$7,571

$7,150

Key Ratio's

P/E: 12.39

P/E ratio indicates that the company's stock price is currently trading at 12 and a third of its current earnings. Considering the relative difficulty of the global economy to sustain a strong level of growth, a P/E of 12 and a fraction is rather inexpensive to obtain a 1.88 dividend and a yield of 2.90%.