Coca-Cola slashes Ukraine prices

COCA-COLA Beverages, the bottling group that floated on the London Stock Exchange in July, is set to receive a cash boost from its parent company in order to cut the price of Coca-Cola in the Ukraine and Belarus.

Devaluations in those countries have forced CCB to raise prices by more than 40 per cent in the past two months. Coca-Cola would pay for the price cuts by slashing its advertising in the region.

Shares in CCB yesterday fell 21.5p to 134p as the company reported operating profits down 9 per cent at pounds 23.3m in the half year to June. After restructuring and flotation costs of pounds 15.4m, CCB reported a pre-tax loss of pounds 2m.

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