Coca-Cola Amatil will axe 260 jobs in 2015, as part of its $100 million cost cutting campaign.
In August, CCA announced it is targeting over $100 million in savings from procurement, reduced support costs and improved productivity in the supply chain and in IT.
Group managing director, Alison Watkins said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange, that the company has since finalised its plans to restructure its back office support costs.
Watkins said the restructure involves cutting “up to 260 non-frontline positions, with the majority taking effect in 2015.”
Trading conditions in Australia continue to be challenging for the company, Watkins said.
“While we have not yet seen the anticipated improvements in the grocery channel and operational accounts, we continue to expect second half Group earnings before interest and tax to exceed first half earnings of $316.7 million, before significant items.
But it’s not all bad news, Watkins said CCA’s latest 250mL cans and #colouryoursummer campaign has made “solid progress.”
“The recent launch of the 250mL cans, supported by the #colouryoursummercampaign, is tracking above expectations in terms of ranging, transactions and most importantly, recruitment of the next generations of Coca-Cola consumers. We have a great line up of new product launches and marketing initiatives including the launch of Coke Life in the first half of 2015.”
In October, The Coca-Cola Company announced it will invest US$500 million to accelerate Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia’s (CCAI, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Amatil) growth strategy in return for ordinary equity ownership interest of 29.4 percent.
CCA reports that CCAI’s pricing and profitability remain under pressure due to the level of competition and ongoing cost pressures, but the Indonesian business is continuing to deliver strong volume growth and improvements in market share.
“We believe the joint system plan we have with TCCC will strengthen our competitive position in the rapidly-growing Indonesian beverage market…the proposed US$500 million equity injection from TCCC will support the capital investment in that market for the next 3-4 years.
“We are very focused on driving cost competitiveness through scale and less complexity, and transforming our route-to-market to cost-effectively reach a larger number of customers with a broader range of our products.”