Swire Coca-Cola posts $237 mln revenue from Vietnam in H1

Hong Kong-based Swire Coca-Cola acquired the entire Coca-Cola bottling business in Vietnam in January and then posted a revenue of HKD1,856 million ($237.4 million) from Vietnam operation in the first half of 2023.

According to an H1 review from Swire Pacific, the parent firm of Swire Coca-Cola, the bottling franchise in Vietnam recorded a strong performance in H1/2023. However, its Cambodia business, which was acquired in the same deal as the Vietnam operation, recorded losses as a result of challenging conditions.

In H1, Swire Coca-Cola's earning before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in Vietnam reached HKD263 million ($33.65 million) and an attributable profit of HKD92 million ($11.8 million).

With the performance, its Vietnam business posted an EBITDA margin of 15.9%, the highest among all the company's markets, followed by the U.S. with 13.9%, Hong Kong with 13.1%, and mainland China with 10.6%.

In terms of H1 revenue, Vietnam delivered the third-highest result of Swire Coca-Cola, and was also the fifth largest bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company by global volume.

Mainland China and the U.S. were the two biggest markets with revenues of HKD13,202 million ($1.69 billion) and HKD12,686 million ($1.62 billion), respectively. Figures in other markets, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Cambodia, reached HKD1,155 million ($147.8 million), HKD1,086 million ($138.9 million), and HKD461 million ($59 million), respectively.

Globally, Swire Coca-Cola recorded a profit of HKD1,423 million ($182.1 million) on a revenue of HKD30,446 million ($3.9 billion) in H1.

On January 1, 2023, Swire Pacific Ltd. completed its purchase of the entire Coca-Cola bottling subsidiary in Vietnam, marking the Hong Kong conglomerate’s first expansion into Vietnam.

Swire Coca-Cola Limited of Hong Kong-based Swire Pacific is the new owner of Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam Ltd., which has three operational bottling facilities in the country, featuring 18 production lines and six distribution centers with a direct and indirect workforce of over 3,500 people.

In October 2022, Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam Ltd. organized a groundbreaking ceremony for its $136 million factory in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, its biggest in Vietnam. Located in Phu An Thanh Industrial Park in Ben Luc district, the plant has an annual capacity of one billion liters.

Coca-Cola has invested over $1 billion in Vietnam since 1994, becoming the biggest foreign beverage investor in the country.