Türkiye competition watchdog to probe Coca-Cola İçecek
An investigation has been launched into Türkiye’s Coca-Cola İçecek regarding a potential breach of the country’s competition laws.
The country’s competition authority Rekabet Kurumu said yesterday (10 June) Coca-Cola İçecek’s subsidiary Coca-Cola Satış ve Dağıtım (Sales and Distribution) was the subject of its probe.
The investigation is to assess whether the group has “violated” the competition protection law Act no. 4054, by “imposing exclusivity on retail outlets and excluding competitors from outlets”.
Shares in Coca-Cola İçecek were down 2.47% to Tl51.30 ($1.31) around noon GMT today, following the announcement.
The decision to investigate Coca-Cola İçecek’s Coca-Cola Satış ve Dağıtım followed a preliminary inquiry in March.
In a statement, Coca-Cola İçecek stressed the launch of the probe “does not necessarily mean that the company subject to investigation has actually violated The Act on the Protection of Competition No.4054 nor it will be subject to a penalty due to a violation of the Competition Law regulations”.
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By GlobalDataThe Cola-Cola Satış ve Dağıtım business was already investigated by Rekabet Kurumu in 2021 for “preventing the sale of rival products at final sale points”.
In 2022, the competition authority accepted a “commitment package” from the business which looked to fix the competition issues. These pledges included offering discounts and promotions at sales points only to the same types of beverages.
In its guidance for 2025 published in March, Coca-Cola İçecek said the group expected to be “cycling a difficult operating environment in 2024”.
It added: “We will focus on driving volume growth by prioritising affordability for consumers.”
For 2025, Coca-Cola İçecek anticipates “low to mid-single-digit growth” in sales volumes in Türkiye and “mid-to high-single-digit growth” for volumes its other global markets.
The company also expects to see a “flat EBIT margin”, accounting for inflation.
In 2024, Coca-Cola İçecek’s international volumes declined the most, by 3.6% to 934 million unit cases, attributed to “weakened volume momentum in Pakistan”.
Volumes in Türkiye stayed flat at 568 million unit cases. Consolidated volumes declined 2.2% to 1.5 billion unit cases.
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