CNN/Money One for credit card only hard offer form at $9.95 One for risk-free form at $14.95 w/ $9.95 upsell  
News > Fortune 500
graphic
CEO says Coke rebound will take time
Neville Isdell contends up to two years needed to change the fortunes of soft drink manufacturer.
September 28, 2004: 9:00 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Coca-Cola Co. CEO Neville Isdell says it will take up to two years to see the company's fortunes turn around, according to a published report.

The new CEO of the world's largest soft drink manufacturer made the comments to the Financial Times. He also told the newspaper he remains focused on carbonated beverages leading the turnaround at Coke, rather than putting more emphasis on products like bottled water or energy drinks.

Coke warned Sept. 15 that it would miss earnings forecasts for the second half of this year, with Isdell admitting to analysts that the company's pricing policy had cut into demand for its products. He told the FT that he's not concerned with the criticism he expects to hear during the turnaround efforts.

"There will be a period in the middle where people will say it's not happening quick enough," Isdell told the newspaper. "But I'm comfortable with that; I'm here for the long term."

Isdell expressed doubts about pinning the company's turnaround on products such as bottled water and energy or sports drinks. He said he passed up an opportunity to buy privately-held Red Bull energy drink in the late 1980s. Coke does have products in those categories, including Dasani water and Powerade sports drink.

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Beverages
Corporate Governance
Warnings (Earnings)
Coca-Cola Company

"The consumer has not rejected carbonation in terms of adding sparkle to the product, and they have not changed their desire to have some sweetness on the tongue, even if there are queries about the number of calories they want to take in," he said. "I don't think water is the answer because I think you get palate fatigue with water over a period of time."  Top of page




  More on NEWS
JPMorgan dramatically slashes Tesla's stock price forecast
Greece is finally done with its epic bailout binge
Europe is preparing another crackdown on Big Tech
  TODAY'S TOP STORIES
7 things to know before the bell
SoftBank and Toyota want driverless cars to change the world
Aston Martin falls 5% in its London IPO




graphic graphic

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.