Swire Coca-Cola earns 2023 profit of $44 mln in Vietnam

Swire Coca-Cola, the beverage division under Hong Kong-based Swire Pacific, earned a revenue of HKD3,734 million ($476.4 million) in Vietnam in 2023, the parent firm said in its annual report.

Swire Coca-Cola completed the acquisition of Coca-Cola's bottling business in Vietnam at the start of 2023, and with the performance, Swire Coca-Cola recorded a profit of HKD344 million ($43.9 million) in Vietnam.

Swire Coca-Cola’s sales volume in Vietnam reached 155 million unit cases, with one unit case equivalent to 24 eight-ounce servings. The figure was higher than in Hong Kong, where it sold 62 million unit cases, Taiwan with 68 million, and Cambodia with 28 million; but lower than mainland China with 1,394 million, and the U.S. with 233 million.

Swire Coca-Cola anticipates that the franchise business in Vietnam will deliver steady profits.

Globally, Swire Coca-Cola earned a revenue of HKD51.8 billion ($6.61 billion) in 2023 from selling 2,043 million unit cases.

Besides, Swire Coca-Cola stressed it recorded a work-related fatality in Vietnam in 2023. The firm subsequently conducted thorough investigations and enhanced its third-party logistics contractor safety management protocols.

Swire Pacific announced the acquisition of Coca-Cola's bottling businesses in Vietnam and Cambodia in July 2022 for $1.02 billion. Coca-Cola entered Vietnam in 1994 and increased its investment to $1 billion as of 2022.

Prior to Swire Pacific’s acquisition, Coca-Cola was caught up in a major scandal in Vietnam when the General Department of Taxation detected false declarations. After an inspection for the 2007-2015 period, Coca-Cola Vietnam had to pay fines and taxes of VND821 billion ($32.8 million).