Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil have slid nearly 10 per cent after the soft drinks maker flagged a surprise profit warning, following weak trading at its Australian beverages business.
The group now expects underlying net profit to decline in the first half of 2017, while full-year underlying profit is expected to be flat.
The company in February said it was targeting earnings per share growth in the mid single digits, and on Friday said it continues to maintain that target over the medium term, although near-term performance will be affected.
"Trading in Australian Beverages for the year-to-date has been weaker than last year with all channels experiencing volume and price pressure due to competition and category trends," it said in a statement on Friday.
Coca-Cola Amatil shares reacted to the news, closing below $10 for the first time in two months.
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The stocks finished the session $1.13, or 10.52 per cent, lower at $9.61.
The company has struggled to face a changing and increasingly competitive Australian marketplace, and in February booked a 37.4 per cent slump in annual net profit for 2016 to $246.1 million.
It announced the shutdown of its South Australian manufacturing plant and said it would invest in growing new market segments as more consumers turn away from full sugar soft drinks.
The trading update also comes just weeks after Barry O'Connell, the head of its Australian beverages unit, left the company in March as part of a continuing leadership overhaul.
Coca-Cola said trading in New Zealand & Fiji, the alcohol & coffee business, as well as its SPC fruit processing and canning business remained in line with expectations for the year-to-date.
Trading in Indonesia continued to be impacted by soft market growth, but the business was delivering to expectations, it said.
