No near-term upside in Indonesia: Amatil

No near-term upside in Indonesia: Amatil

SYDNEY (Reuters): Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd Managing Director David
Kennedy said on Sunday he did not see any upside in the soft
drink bottler's Indonesian operations for some time.

"I think in the case of Indonesia I would say that our
business has bottomed out there and assuming that there's no
other social or political shock, that we're about where we're
going to be for a while," Kennedy told the Nine Network's
Business Sunday.

"I don't see any upside there for some time. In the case of
South Korea, that's less clear."

"I don't think South Korea is in the long term a problematic
situation that Indonesia is and so I think, one, we have a much
better opportunity to grow our business regardless of what the
economy does," he said.

Kennedy said he thought the South Korean economy would recover
sooner there than some other countries in Asia.

C-C Amatil last week reported a 4.3 percent rise in net profit
for the half year to June 30 of A$102.3 million but warned that
the depreciation of the Philippines peso, losses in Indonesia and
only a small contribution from its newly acquired Korean
operations would push second half profits lower.

C-C Amatil, which is about 42 percent owned by Atlanta's The
Coca Cola Co [KO.N], said Indonesia's economic crisis and a lower
Philippines peso effectively cut A$29.7 million from its first
half net profit.

Kennedy said on Sunday the Philippines would represent C-C
Amatil's largest market in terms of volume and profitability and
would be a key driver of long-term value for the company.

He said C-C Amatil was a market leader in Indonesia and that
the company was managing its business there according to the
economic situation.

"Our business is cash-flow positive and we'll be able to
maintain that for an indefinite period of time so we're adjusting
our plans as we go along to the situation," Kennedy said.

"It will take some time, I believe, for that country to
adjust," he said.

With its results last week, C-C Amatil also announced it would
book a A$478.2 million extraordinary gain from non-cash profits
from its spinoff in late June of its European operations into
Coca Cola Beverages Plc.