The Coca-Cola giant announced that the pandemic is still hurting its sales, even though cost-cutting efforts have helped it beat analysts' earnings estimates.

Thus, net income in the fourth quarter was 1.30 billion euros, down from 2 billion euros a year ago.

According to the Executive Digest portal, the company also released its first forecast since the crisis hit the business with analysts revealing to be more optimistic than the soft drink company about the speed of the industry's recovery. Excluding restructuring charges and other items, Coca-Cola earned 47 cents per share, beating the 42 cents expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.

In turn, net sales fell 51TP2Q to €7.5 billion, below expectations of €7.6 billion. Organic revenue, which does not include the impact of acquisitions, divestitures or foreign currency, fell 31TP2Q in the quarter and all four beverage segments reported volume declines, with Latin America the only geographic region to report some volume growth.

However, the brand's CEO, James Quincey, considers that "it is still early in the vaccination process and we expect to see business improvements in due course" as this protective measure becomes increasingly available to all countries affected with Covid-19, a pandemic that in the past two years has completely altered the world economy.