"We are pleased to report strong second quarter results that reflect our continued focus on margin management and operating efficiency," said J. Frank Harrison, III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to reaching higher levels of profitability this quarter, we made important progress in our commitment to build long-term value for our stockholders through a significant repurchase of our common shares. We look forward to communicating additional plans with you in the coming weeks."

Standard physical case volume was down 1.2% in the second quarter of 2024 and down 0.8% in the first half of the year. For the first half of 2024, comparable^(b) standard physical case volume decreased 0.3% compared to the first half of 2023, which included one additional selling day. Sparkling category volume remained relatively flat during the second quarter with strong performance of multi-serve can packages sold in larger retail stores. Still category physical case volume declined 3.5% during the second quarter of 2024. We continue to see softness in Dasani casepack water as well as BODYARMOR but we experienced strength in several key brands including Monster, POWERade, Core Power and vitaminwater.

Direct store delivery ("DSD") is our preferred and primary route to market. However, as our business becomes more complex with an increasing number of brands and packages, we are expanding our delivery methods to include routes to market outside our traditional DSD capabilities. We receive fees associated with our non-DSD sales that benefit our overall profitability but the volume is not reported as part of our standard physical case volume. For example, we have shifted the distribution of casepack Dasani water sold in Walmart stores to a non-DSD method of distribution which reduced our second quarter reported case sales by 0.8%.

Selling, delivery and administrative ("SD&A") expenses in the second quarter of 2024 increased $19.7 million, or 5%. SD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales increased 30 basis points to 25.5% in the second quarter of 2024. The increase in SD&A expenses as compared to the second quarter of 2023 was primarily driven by an increase in labor costs, mostly related to annual wage adjustments and overall inflation. SD&A expenses in the first half of 2024 increased $26.8 million, or 3.1%. SD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales in the first half of 2024 increased 20 basis points to 26.1% as compared to the first half of 2023.

Net income in the second quarter of 2024 was $172.8 million, compared to $122.3 million in the second quarter of 2023, an improvement of $50.5 million. On an adjusted^(b) basis, net income in the second quarter of 2024 was $192.8 million, compared to $172.5 million in the second quarter of 2023, an increase of $20.3 million. Income tax expense for the second quarter of 2024 was $59.4 million, compared to $42.4 million for the second quarter of 2023, resulting in an effective income tax rate of approximately 26% for both periods.

Cash flows provided by operations for the first half of 2024 were $437.1 million, compared to $383.3 million for the first half of 2023. Cash flows from operations reflected our strong operating performance during the first half of 2024. In the first half of 2024, we invested $159 million in capital expenditures as we continue to enhance our supply chain and invest for future growth. For the full year of 2024, we expect our capital expenditures to be between $300 million and $350 million.

A PDF accompanying this release is available at: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/4d7c45cd-360c-4122-8b6c-574350fe4608

Coca‑Cola Consolidated is the largest Coca‑Cola bottler in the United States. Our Purpose is to honor God in all we do, to serve others, to pursue excellence and to grow profitably. For over 122 years, we have been deeply committed to the consumers, customers and communities we serve and passionate about the broad portfolio of beverages and services we offer. We make, sell and distribute beverages of The Coca‑Cola Company and other partner companies in more than 300 brands and flavors across 14 states and the District of Columbia, to approximately 60 million consumers.

Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties which we expect will or may occur in the future and may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. The words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "project," "may," "will," "should," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's best judgment based on current information, and, although we base these statements on circumstances that we believe to be reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future events will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking information. As such, the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may vary materially from the projected results and expectations discussed in this news release. Factors that might cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: increased costs (including due to inflation), disruption of supply or unavailability or shortages of raw materials, fuel and other supplies; the reliance on purchased finished products from external sources; changes in public and consumer perception and preferences, including concerns related to product safety and sustainability, artificial ingredients, brand reputation and obesity; changes in government regulations related to nonalcoholic beverages, including regulations related to obesity, public health, artificial ingredients and product safety and sustainability; decreases from historic levels of marketing funding support provided to us by The Coca‑Cola Company and other beverage companies; material changes in the performance requirements for marketing funding support or our inability to meet such requirements; decreases from historic levels of advertising, marketing and product innovation spending by The Coca‑Cola Company and other beverage companies, or advertising campaigns that are negatively perceived by the public; any failure of the several Coca‑Cola system governance entities of which we are a participant to function efficiently or on our best behalf and any failure or delay of ours to receive anticipated benefits from these governance entities; provisions in our beverage distribution and manufacturing agreements with The Coca‑Cola Company that could delay or prevent a change in control of us or a sale of our Coca‑Cola distribution or manufacturing businesses; the concentration of our capital stock ownership; our inability to meet requirements under our beverage distribution and manufacturing agreements; changes in the inputs used to calculate our acquisition related contingent consideration liability; technology failures or cyberattacks on our information technology systems or our effective response to technology failures or cyberattacks on our customers', suppliers' or other third parties' information technology systems; unfavorable changes in the general economy; the concentration risks among our customers and suppliers; lower than expected net pricing of our products resulting from continued and increased customer and competitor consolidations and marketplace competition; the effect of changes in our level of debt, borrowing costs and credit ratings on our access to capital and credit markets, operating flexibility and ability to obtain additional financing to fund future needs; the failure to attract, train and retain qualified employees while controlling labor costs, and other labor issues; the failure to maintain productive relationships with our employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, including failing to renegotiate collective bargaining agreements; changes in accounting standards; our use of estimates and assumptions; changes in tax laws, disagreements with tax authorities or additional tax liabilities; changes in legal contingencies; natural disasters, changing weather patterns and unfavorable weather; climate change or legislative or regulatory responses to such change; and the impact of any pandemic or public health situation. These and other factors are discussed in the Company's regulatory filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update them, except as may be required by applicable law.