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Mexico's Coca-Cola Femsa 3Q Net Up 70% To MXN2.13 Billion

MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Mexican soft-drinks bottler Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF, KOF.MX) said Tuesday its net profit rose 70% in the third quarter on strong sales growth and higher operating profit.

Coca-Cola Femsa said it earned 2.13 billion pesos ($158 million) in the July- September period, or MXN1.16 per share.

Sales in the quarter rose 32% from a year ago to MXN26.01 billion, with double digit increases in all divisions.

More than half of the increase came from higher sales volumes and prices. Strong currencies in Latin America compared with Mexico's peso also contributed to higher sales.

Sales volume rose 7.5% to 615.6 million unit cases. Costs were pressured by weaker currencies against the U.S. dollar affecting raw materials, higher sweetener prices and an increase in Coca-Cola concentrate prices in Mexico.

Operating profit rose 24% to MXN3.96 billion.

Coca-Cola Femsa noted a recent improvement in the economic environment, and said it's investing in marketing improvements to take advantage of growth in coming years.

-By Anthony Harrup, Dow Jones Newswires, (5255) 5001 5727, anthony.harrup@ dowjones.com

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  10-27-091136ET
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