NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage company, posted a second-quarter profit Thursday that beat Wall Street estimates. But it fell short of sales expectations, citing weakness in its international markets.

Atlanta-based Coke said it earned $1.5 billion, or 65 cents a share in the second quarter, up from $1.3 billion or 55 cents a share during the same quarter last year.

Analysts had forecast a profit of 63 cents a share for the period. Revenue rose 5 percent to $5.9 billion, missing consensus estimates of $6.1 billion in sales for the period.

The latest quarter included a gain of 1.5 cents due to a favorable tax settlement and a stock issuance gain.

Weakness in the U.S. dollar added about 6 percent to its operating income in the quarter, helping to offset weakness in markets outside of North America. But the company expects to experience fewer currency benefits in the second-half of the year.

"Our results in the quarter reflect solid performance in many markets, but we are experiencing challenging conditions in several key countries, including Germany, Mexico and the Philippines," the company's new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Neville Isdell said in a statement.

"Within these markets, we expect the environment to remain difficult throughout the remainder of this year while we focus on improving our short-term performance and strengthening our system's long-term capabilities," he added.

Coke (KO: Research, Estimates) shares traded fractionally lower in after-hours trading after ending the day down 23 cents to $48.97.

Worldwide case sales grew an anemic 1 percent in the quarter and just 2 percent in the first six months of the year.

In the important North American region, volume was up 2 percent on an average daily basis. Diet carbonated soft drinks led second-quarter growth in the region, up 7 percent, the company said. The company partly blamed dampening sales on wet May and June weather in some key regions.

Coke logged a first-quarter unit-case volume growth of 24 percent for Powerade and 12 percent for Dasani.

The company posted a 2 percent decline in unit-case volume in its European group. Meanwhile, China delivered a robust 37 percent volume growth for the period, and Argentina brought in 14 percent growth. Coke said it saw unit-case volume growth in Brazil, but it declined 3 percent in Mexico.

In a conference call with analysts, Isdell who succeeded former CEO Douglas Daft in June this year, said Coke's focus would remain on enhancing revenue growth.

"To keep Coke strong, we have to find new ways to satisfy consumers in order to maintain the relevance of the brand," he said. Isdell declined to answer questions, saying he was still in the midst of a 120-day review of Coke's operations.

Coke also gave a preliminary report on its much-hyped new mid-calorie C2 cola, which it launched it May. Industry analysts recently voiced concern over both Coke's and Pepsi's new mid-calorie colas, suggesting that both companies may have to go back to the drawing board to look for another way to boost sluggish sales of carbonated drinks.

"The mid-calorie colas appear to suffer from several "fatal flaws," including reliance on artificial sweeteners, calorie content that's still too high and some taste disappointment," Morgan Stanley analyst William Pecoriello wrote in a note to analysts Wednesday.

However, Coke said its early gauge of C2 cola was positive and supported its view that C2 would become a profit and revenue enhancer for the company in the carbonated soft drinks category.