Coke sales overstated by RI unit

Coke sales overstated by RI unit

Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest soft-drink maker,
overstated its volume of beverages sold for the past three years
because of errors in reporting bottled-water sales in Indonesia.

Volume was inflated by 2 million to 13 million cases per
quarter since 2001's third quarter, the Atlanta-based company
said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Coca-Cola
revised growth rates for Asian and global volumes to correct the
inaccurate figures. Net income and revenue aren't affected,
spokesman Ben Deutsch said.

The overstated sales were disclosed after a joint venture
formed last month by Coca-Cola and Nestle SA acquired a 65 percent
stake in the Indonesian water distributor, PT AdeS Alfindo
PutraSetia Tbk. Coca-Cola acquired the AdeS, Vica and Desca water
brands in 2000 and began counting sales in its volume estimates,
though until recently didn't control the water distribution
business or its seven bottling plants around the country.

Asian sales, measured by volume, have risen 4 percent this
year, twice the previously reported rate because last year's
sales were overstated, Coca-Cola's filing said. Coca-Cola gets
almost a quarter of its sales from Asia, with markets including
India and China leading the company's growth.

Last year, the SEC and federal prosecutors began
investigating charges from a fired former employee alleging that
Coca-Cola inflated sales in Japan by shipping excessive soft-
drink syrup to bottlers. The company is cooperating with the
investigations, the filing said. -- Bloomberg