
Coca-Cola beats on zero-sugar sodas, higher prices; to launch cane sugar-based drink
Food companies have rolled out plans to make changes in ingredients and include healthier substitutes amid Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) campaign.
The Fanta maker's move to launch a product this fall under its trademark Coca-Cola range comes days after President Donald Trump said last week the company agreed to use real cane sugar in the U.S.
Rival PepsiCo (PEP.O), opens new tab, which topped quarterly earnings estimates last week, also said it would use sugar in its products if consumers want it.
Coca-Cola's comparable revenue rose 2.5% to $12.62 billion in the three months ended June 27, beating estimates of $12.54 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
"Amid a shifting external landscape in the second quarter, the ability of our system to stay both focused and flexible enabled us to stay on course in the first half of the year," CEO James Quincey said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the Sprite parent said the hit to its costs due to "global trade dynamics" remained manageable, as its operations were primarily local.
Coca-Cola has said it would look at affordable packaging options such as plastic bottles when President Trump imposed a 25% duty on aluminum imports. As of June, tariffs on aluminum imports have doubled to 50%.
Prices rose 6% overall in the second quarter, led by increases in some inflationary markets, the company said, following a 5% rise in the prior quarter.
Meanwhile, total case volumes fell about 1%, compared with a 2% rise in the preceding three-month period.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar jumped 14%, driven by growth across all geographies.
Excluding items, the company earned 87 cents per share, beating estimates of 83 cents.
Coca-Cola now expects fiscal 2025 comparable earnings per share to increase near the top end of its prior target of a 2% to 3% rise.
The Minute Maid maker's shares were last down 1% in choppy premarket trading. They have risen 12.5% so far this year.
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ITV News
2 minutes ago
- ITV News
Starmer meets Trump in south Ayrshire for talks at Scottish golf resort
The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Lady Victoria Starmer have met Donald Trump at the US president's golf course in south Ayrshire, Scotland, for a series of wide ranging talks on trade and global affairs. Speaking on the steps of the president's residence at his Turnberry resort, and accompanied by the sound of bagpipes, Trump hailed the deal on tarrifs he and Starmer had struck, describing US-UK relations as "unparalleled", claiming: "We want to make the prime minister happy". Trump took a series of questions from journalists upon his arrival, who were keen to question the pair on what they would be discussing during the visit. Occupying most of the president's attention was the ongoing crisis in Gaza. "I think it's one of the main reasons for our meeting," he told reporters. Starmer has come under pressure in recent days to move further and faster on recognising Palestine as a soverign state. 255 MPs from nine seperate parties have all written to the PM demanding he move to recoginse Palestine. The UK's G7 ally France also announced last week it would be recognising Palestine's statehood. Asked whether he felt recognising Palestine as a state was a necessary step towards resolving the crisis, Trump refused to take a stance, adding: "I don't mind him taking one," as he signalled Starmer. Contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assertions there was no starvation in Gaza, Trump said: "I'm looking at getting people fed right now. "Maybe that's the number one position because you have a lot of starving people." The US President claimed America had given $60 million (£45 million) in aid to Gaza already but that other countries would need to step up. Jumping in, Starmer emphasised: "It's a humanitarian crisis, right? It's an absolute catastrophe. Nobody wants to see that. He added: "I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screens. So we've got to get to that ceasefire." Among the President's remarks was a strongly worded condemnation of Russian Presdient Vladimir Putin and the suggestion he would bring forward the deadline given to Putin to negotiate a ceasefire. "I'm very disappointed in President Putin. Very disappointed in him," said Trump. "We're going to have to look and I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number because I think I already know the answer - what's going to happen." The US President was referring to his previous announcement in the Oval Office that he had given Putin 50 days to negotiate a ceasefire deal with Ukraine before imposing 100% secondary tariffs. Secondary tariffs would target Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy, potentially including nations that rely on Russia for oil and natural gas. Donald Trump will also meet with Scotland's First Minister John Swinney druring his trip, at which Swinney will broach the subject of tarrifs on Scotch whisky. Speaking on Monday morning, Swinney claimed the tariffs on this industry are currently costing whisky manufacturers £4 million a week and he would use this meting to make the case for lowering them. Asked about this on the steps of Turnberry the president, who himself does not drink, said, "I'm not a big whisky drinker... We're going to take a look at it." The president will be back in the UK in just under two months when he will be hosted by King Charles during a second official state visit.


The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Britain has no business laughing at Trump's EU trade deal
In a world where Donald Trump's tariffs and trade wars make everyone a loser, are there any winners from his latest deal, sealed by a handshake with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a ballroom at one of the president's Scottish golf courses, of all places? One very clear loser is von der Leyen herself. If body language is anything to go by, she looked like she'd been badly bullied by the Big Orange Man – and, truthfully, so she had. In her own clipped remarks, she admits that a reduction in tariffs to 15 per cent, while 'not to be underestimated', was 'the best we could get'. President Macron has declared the US-EU trade deal a 'dark day' for Europe – and you can understand why. A general tariff level of 15 per cent – better than the 20 per cent proposed by Trump on his infamous 'Liberation Day' in April, and even better than the 30 per cent he was threatening a couple of weeks ago – is still prohibitive. It is certainly way above the 2 to 3 per cent levels that most EU exporters used to face. A trade war has been avoided, but this looks like the kind of deal the Americans have forced on the likes of Vietnam or Indonesia. So it is something of a humiliation for the mighty European Union, a global trade superpower. The feeling in some parts of Europe must be that if von der Leyen had played hard ball like the Chinese, a more evenly balanced and more advantageous relationship could have been reached in the long run. We will never know the truth about that. For European pride and for many of its great industrial concerns, the deal is disappointing, and will be expensive – the Volkswagen group is just one to speak out. But for European consumers, it is surely good news. They will be able to enjoy cheaper imports from the United States; it is American customers who will have to pay more for their French wines and Italian sports cars. Could it be that the EU's trade deal – which Trump has, well, trumpeted as the 'biggest ever', and whose biggest 'win' is the removal of a threat to raise tariffs to 30 per cent later this week – is marginally worse than the one Starmer did with Trump in May? Britain's trade deal lowered tariffs of UK goods imported into the US to 10 per cent, and imposed a lesser, 25 per cent tariff on the UK steel industry, with room for further concessions, while the 50 per cent 'worldwide rate' will remain for the EU. For those now cheering this as a rare Brexit benefit, it is a hollow victory. For the concessions to Britain are so minor, they cannot hope to make up for the ground lost since Brexit – essentially, a GDP loss in excess of 5 per cent. And we're not out of the rough, by any stretch. As Keir Starmer meets the US president for further trade discussions at the Trump Turnberry golf course, he will be acutely conscious of his counterpart's unpredictability. Starmer has milked the modest concessions he managed to wangle, particularly on cars and food standards, but much remains vague and far from nailed-down. The greatest danger is the fuzzy UK commitment to improve the trading environment for the US pharma groups will eventually mean an enormous increase in the drugs bill for the National Health Service, which it can ill-afford. Trump also omitted virtually the whole of the service sector from his UK deal, where the British actually enjoy a surplus, which is great until he decides otherwise. There are no legally binding rules here. The world economy remains highly inter-dependent, and globalisation, while receding, cannot sensibly be ended, as even Elon Musk tries to argue. All barriers to trade harm the country that erects them both directly and, in their depressing effects on world growth, indirectly. Consumers are charged more, on a highly regressive basis, companies are forced to pay more for inputs, and be less cost-effective, and competition and dynamic structural change are deliberately impeded. Whatever the details of the individual deals counties are trying to strike with one another, tariffs make us all poorer in the long run.


Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
Wall Street eyes records, euro slides after US-EU trade deal
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Europe's major bourses made modest gains and the euro fell on Monday as investors greeted a trade agreement between the U.S. and European Union with cautious relief at the start of an action-packed week for markets. The STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab touched a four-month high with a slender 0.5% rise, while the euro slid 0.7% against the dollar in what was shaping up to be the biggest hit to this year's 10% rally since May. The framework trade deal, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described as the best the bloc could get, will impose a 15% import tariff on most EU goods and see the EU spend $600 billion on U.S. investments while opening up some important parts of its market. "The deal is better than the 30%-50% tariff rates threatened over the last couple of months, although it is probably as bad as the universal tariff rates being discussed late last year," ING analyst Chris Turner said. While the U.S.-EU deal averts a more damaging standoff between the two blocs, which account for almost a third of global trade, a number of European capitals complained it was lopsided in favour of Washington. Other major economies are still scrambling to finalise deals ahead of Trump's August 1 deadline. Talks between the U.S. and China in Stockholm on Monday are expected to lead to the two sides extending their trade truce for another 90 days, while Europe's deal comes hot on the heels of one struck with Japan last week. MUFG FX strategist Derek Halpenny said the EU deal was ultimately "good news from a financial markets perspective as it reduces uncertainty further still ahead of 1st August, which is now looking like an insignificant date". Apolline Menut at fund manager Carmignac meanwhile called it a win for the U.S., given the forced purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment and zero tariff retaliation by Europe. "This isn't a trade breakthrough - it's damage control for the sake of diplomatic pragmatism," she said. "The economic cost may sting, but the strategic calculus is brutally rational." Germany's exporter-heavy DAX (.GDAXI), opens new tab and France's CAC 40 (.FCHI), opens new tab had also risen early on but had sagged back into negative territory by early afternoon trading, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures , pointed to fresh record highs on Wall Street when it resumes. The euro had also strengthened as Asian markets reopened, but it too dropped deeper into the red as the dollar nudged higher across the board. /FRX Euro area government bond yields, which are a proxy for borrowing costs, also edged down. Germany's 10-year yield , the euro area's benchmark, was 0.5 basis points lower at 2.71% after rising more than 10 basis points at the end of last week when the European Central Bank curbed talk of imminent rate cuts. Wall Street's S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow futures were between flat and 0.3% higher as the weekend's EU deal sealed at Donald Trump's golf course in Scotland added to ones struck with Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines in Asia last week. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said the probability of the S&P now reaching their "bull case" of 7,200 points by mid next year had gone up, although was "not without risks" given possible tariff-driven inflation and high long-term U.S. bond yields. Overnight in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of regional shares (.MIAP00000PUS), opens new tab ended 0.3% weaker, with Japan's Nikkei falling back more than 1% after it hit a one-year high last week. The Australian dollar , often seen as a proxy for global risk appetite, was at $0.657, hovering around the near eight-month peak it had scaled. Traders are also waiting for interest rate decisions from both the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan, monthly U.S. non-farm payrolls, and earnings from megacap companies Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab. While the Fed and the BOJ are expected to maintain rates, comments from the officials will be crucial for investors to gauge the interest rate path. The trade deal with Japan has opened the door for the BOJ to raise rates again this year. Meanwhile, the Fed is likely to be cautious on any rate cuts as officials seek more data to determine the impact of tariffs on inflation before they ease rates further. But tensions between the White House and the central bank over monetary policy have increased, with Trump repeatedly lashing out at Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates. Two of the Fed Board's Trump appointees have articulated reasons for supporting a rate cut this month. In commodities, oil prices rose after the U.S.-EU trade agreement. Brent crude futures and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude were both up 0.5%. Gold prices eased 0.1% to $3,334 an ounce, their lowest in nearly two weeks, on reduced appetite for traditional safe havens.