Coca-Cola's profit climbs but obstacles loom

This Monday, Oct. 15, 2012 photo shows two cans of Caffeine Free Diet Coke on ice in Surfside, Fla. Coca-Cola is expected to report earnings, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

This Monday, Oct. 15, 2012 photo shows two cans of Caffeine Free Diet Coke on ice in Surfside, Fla. Coca-Cola is expected to report earnings, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Coca-Cola is facing a tough time: people are drinking less soda in the U.S. and Europe and uncertain economic conditions around the world are weighing on the world's biggest beverage maker.

The Atlanta-based company said Tuesday that its profit rose in the fourth quarter, as it benefited from growth in emerging markets and a shift in the calendar that resulted in two extra selling days for the period. But sales volume fell in China and Europe, reflecting a pullback in consumer spending.

In North America, its biggest market by revenue, volume rose just 1 percent, boosted by its Powerade sports drinks and bottled teas. The company sold 2 percent less soda.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO Muhtar Kent said he expects 2013 will "once again be a year of challenges" but that the company nevertheless expects to hit its long-term target of 6 percent to 8 percent growth in operating income.

In the U.S., he said Coca-Cola is starting to see signs of improvement in consumer sentiment but that it was still waiting to see the impact of higher payroll taxes and gasoline prices. In China and Europe, the company said it expects volumes to start rebounding in coming quarters.

"Our view is that this is not the start of a trend," said Gary Fayard, the company's chief financial officer, noting that quarterly declines occasionally happen.

Coca-Cola, which also makes Fanta, Minute Maid and Dasani water, is increasingly looking for growth in countries where its drinks aren't yet as ubiquitous as they are in developed nations. In North America, the company is also relying on a shifting mix of beverages to boost sales amid intensifying criticism of sugary sodas.

The company is also facing tougher competition from PepsiCo Inc., which has significantly stepped up its marketing with major deals including a multiyear contract to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show. When asked whether that push was having any effect, Kent declined to comment but noted that Coca-Cola's share of the soda market grew despite a broader industry decline.

"To be frank, we see competition as healthy. It keeps us on our toes," Kent said.

For the quarter, Coca-Cola said global sales volume rose 3 percent, helped by gains in countries such as Turkey and Russia.

In Europe, the company blamed an uncertain economy, bad weather and price competition for a 5 percent decline in volume.

In China, where U.S. companies of all stripes are looking for growth, volume declined 4 percent after growing 10 percent in the year-ago quarter. The company said the business in the region was impacted by a slowing economy, bad weather and a later Chinese New Year.

Even though Coca-Cola has quarters where volumes decline in regions such as Europe and China, Kent noted that the company's results have been insulated by its geographic diversity. The company sells drinks in every country but Cuba and North Korea.

For the October-to-December period, The Coca-Cola Co. earned $1.87 billion, or 41 cents per share. That's compared with $1.66 billion, or 36 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Not including one-time items, the company said it earned 45 cents per share.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $11.46 billion.

Analysts on average expected an adjusted profit of 44 cents per share on revenue of $11.53 billion.

For the full year, net income was $9.02 billion, or $1.97 per share, up from $8.58 billion, or $1.85 per share, in the year-ago period.

Looking forward, Coca-Cola expects prices for ingredients such as sweeteners, juice, metals and plastic to rise more moderately in the past year. The company expects foreign currency translation to hurt operating income by 4 percent in 2013, compared with a 5 percent impact in 2012.

Its shares were down 3 percent at $37.55.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-12-US-Earns-Coca-Cola/id-4f4daf8702ee400a8ef76a64d23d0f5d

CMA Awards 2012 election day Electoral College map nyc marathon nyc marathon willie nelson khloe kardashian

Japan's Mao Asada wins Four Continents skating

Winner Mao Asada holds bouquets of flowers she was presented from fans after the awarding ceremony of women's events of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Osaka, Japan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Winner Mao Asada holds bouquets of flowers she was presented from fans after the awarding ceremony of women's events of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Osaka, Japan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Winner Mao Asada, center, second-placed, Akiko Suzuki, left, and third-placed Kanako Murakami, all of Japan, pose for photographers after the awarding ceremony of women's events of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Osaka, Japan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Marissa Castelli, top, and Simon Shnapir of U.S perform during the pairs free skating event at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Osaka, western Japan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Winners Meagan Duhamel, center foreground, Eric Radford, center back row, second-placed, Kirsten Moore-towers, foreground left, Dylan Moscovitch, left back row, of Canada and third-placed Marissa Castelli, foreground right, and Simon Shnapir of U.S. pose for photographers after the awarding ceremony of pairs event of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Osaka, western Japan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Meagan Duhamel, right, and Eric Radford of Canada performs during the pairs free skating event at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Osaka, western Japan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

OSAKA, Japan (AP) ? Two-time world champion Mao Asada won figure skating's Four Continents on Sunday, leading a Japanese sweep.

After reintroducing her trademark triple axel in Saturday's short program, Asada was downgraded on the jump in Sunday's free skate but was solid in her other elements to finish with 205.45 points. Akiko Suzuki was second with 190.08 points while Kanako Murakami finished third with 181.03.

Christina Gao of the United States finished fourth while Li Zijun of China was fifth.

"The short program exceeded expectations and the free met my expectations," said Asada, who skated to Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." ''I am happy I was able to challenge the triple axel and that has given me confidence."

Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won the pairs event, with U.S. champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir third.

In the ice dance final, world silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. won the gold medal. Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates were third.

Asada had been struggling with the triple axel since the Vancouver Olympics but was able to win four events this season without it. She pulled it off to perfection Saturday when she finished first in the short program. Despite being downgraded on the jump Sunday, Asada plans to attempt it at the world championships in London, Ontario, next month, hoping to "build on the success I've had here."

The Four Continents is the last major event before the March 11-17 worlds, where Asada will renew her rivalry with South Korean skater Kim Yu-na.

Suzuki, who was second after the short program, turned in a strong performance to music from Cirque du Soleil. She under-rotated a double axel on her second element and was deducted points on a triple lutz but was solid otherwise to hold on to second place ahead of Murakami, who won her first medal at a senior International Skating Union event.

Murakami was downgraded on a triple flip earlier in her routine but had no major mistakes in the free skate.

"I missed out on a podium at last year's Four Continents because of a poor free skate so I was thinking about that today," Murakami said. "It's great to see a Japanese sweep of the podium.

In pairs, Duhamel and Radford won with 199.18 points, edging compatriots Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch, who finished with 196.78. Moore-Towers and Moscovitch won Sunday's free skate but couldn't overtake Duhamel and Radford, who built a lead in winning the short program. Castelli and Shnapir were third with 170.10 points.

In the ice dance final, Davis and White finished with 187.36 points, beating world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, who had 184.32. Chock and Bates were third with 160.42.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-10-FIG-Four-Continents/id-e8230b17591844dcb0a2106de529b40d

Robert Bork instagram mark sanchez christina aguilera Mayan End Of The World Olivia Black the voice

J.T. Returns to the Grammys: Did He Deliver?

Move over Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Elton John, because no matter how wonderful you all are (and you are wonderful), the only person we cared about performing at the Grammys was Justin Timberlake.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/justin-timberlake-returns-grammys-did-he-deliver-0/1-a-521487?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ajustin-timberlake-returns-grammys-did-he-deliver-0-521487

Waldo Canyon fire nba finals K Michelle roger clemens multiple sclerosis falling skies rodney king

Leap Motion used for legitimate air drumming, authentic instrument control

Hacking Kinect might get you access to an audible air guitar, but Stephane Berscot can do you one better -- tweaking the pitch of a tangible axe via Leap Motion's virtual work space. Berscot configured a Leap tweak his guitar's pitch based on the instrument's position over the device. That's not all, either, the makeshift MIDI controller also functions as a keyboard equalizer and a set of functional air drums. Combining all three tricks together scored Berscot a pretty mean demo track, but it's apparently a lot harder than it looks. "It wasn't easy to play drums with it," he said, explaining how he had to detect beats based tracking the upward and downward velocity of the drumstick. "My method is pretty basic and still needs some work." Even so, the demo definitely shows the device's potential. Skip on past the break to see Berscot kick out the jams.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Via: Make

Source: Gratoo (YouTube)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/zMwo8UA1cIs/

whitney houston casket photo match play championship the national enquirer marie colvin cm punk cm punk lint

Video: Roundtable breaks down budget battle

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032608/vp/50761096#50761096

dolly parton i will always love you beverly hilton hotel whitney houston found dead i will always love you whitney houston 2012 grammy awards powerball results pebble beach golf

Promising target to block Staphylococcus infection discovered

Feb. 10, 2013 ? National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have identified a promising lead for developing a new type of drug to treat infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that frequently resists traditional antibiotics. The researchers discovered a system used by S. aureus to transport toxins that are thought to contribute to severe staph infections. These toxins -- called phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) -- have gained much attention in recent years, but their multitude and diversity have hindered efforts to target them for drug development.

Expanding on work that first described S. aureus PSMs in 2007, scientists at the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found that the transport system, which they call Pmt, is common to all S. aureus PSMs and critical for bacterial proliferation and disease development in a mouse model. Their experiments suggest that a drug interfering with Pmt's function could not only prevent production of the PSM toxins, but also directly lead to bacterial death.

Although their study focused on S. aureus, the scientists suspect that Pmt performs the same role in other staphylococci, such as S. epidermidis, the leading cause of hospital-associated infections involving indwelling medical devices such as catheters, pacemakers and prosthetics. They plan to continue their studies to improve the understanding of how PSMs function and to learn how to interfere with the Pmt transport system to block disease.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal References:

1. S Chatterjee et al. Essential Staphylococcus aureus toxin export system. Nature Medicine, 2013 DOI: 10.1038/nm3047
2. Rong Wang, Kevin R Braughton, Dorothee Kretschmer, Thanh-Huy L Bach, Shu Y Queck, Min Li, Adam D Kennedy, David W Dorward, Seymour J Klebanoff, Andreas Peschel, Frank R DeLeo, Michael Otto. Identification of novel cytolytic peptides as key virulence determinants for community-associated MRSA. Nature Medicine, 2007; 13 (12): 1510 DOI: 10.1038/nm1656

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/HTgXPSOxop8/130210143254.htm

harrisburg top chef texas great pacific garbage patch ben affleck and jennifer garner google privacy changes windows 8 preview leap year

New genes for short-sightedness: 24 new genes that cause refractive errors and myopia identified

Feb. 10, 2013 ? An international team of scientists led by King's College London has discovered 24 new genes that cause refractive errors and myopia (short-sightedness).

Myopia is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide, and currently there is no cure. These findings, published February 10 in the journal Nature Genetics, reveal genetic causes of the trait, which could lead to finding better treatments or ways of preventing the condition in the future.

Thirty per cent of Western populations and up to 80 per cent of Asian people suffer from myopia. During visual development in childhood and adolescence the eye grows in length, but in myopes it grows too long, and light entering the eye is then focused in front of the retina rather than on it. This results in a blurred image. This refractive error can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or surgery. However, the eye remains longer, the retina is thinner, and this may lead to retinal detachment, glaucoma or macular degeneration, especially with higher degrees of myopia. Myopia is highly heritable, although up to now, little was known about the genetic background.

To find the genes responsible, researchers from Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States collaborated as the Consortium for Refraction and Myopia (CREAM). They analysed genetic and refractive error data of over 45,000 people from 32 different studies, and found 24 new genes for this trait, and confirmed two previously reported genes. Interestingly, the genes did not show significant differences between the European and Asian groups, despite the higher prevelance among Asian people. The new genes include those which function in brain and eye tissue signalling, the structure of the eye, and eye development. The genes lead to a high risk of myopia and carriers of the high-risk genes had a tenfold increased risk.

It was already known that environmental factors, such as reading, lack of outdoor exposure, and a higher level of education can increase the risk of myopia. The condition is more common in people living in urban areas. An unfavourable combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors appears to be particularly risky for development of myopia. How these environmental factors affect the newly identified genes and cause myopia remains intriguing, and will be further investigated by the consortium.

Professor Chris Hammond from the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London, and lead author of the paper, said: 'We already knew that myopia -- or short-sightedness -- tends to run in families, but until now we knew little about the genetic causes. This study reveals for the first time a group of new genes that are associated with myopia and that carriers of some of these genes have a 10-fold increased risk of developing the condition.

'Currently myopia is corrected with glasses or contact lenses, but now we understand more about the genetic triggers for the condition we can begin to explore other ways to correct it or prevent progression. It is an extremely exciting step forward which could potentially lead to better treatments or prevention in the future for millions around the world.'

Currently, possibilities to reduce progression of myopia are very limited. While one drug, called atropine, may reduce progression, it dilates the pupil and causes problems with light sensitivity and difficulty with reading. New options are necessary. Chances are good that the insights gained from this study will provide openings for development of new strategies.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by King's College London, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/A79LABKE1F0/130210143252.htm

katt williams greg mcelroy new york post kate middleton bob costas bowl projections Jovan Belcher