In 2023, a Coca-Cola subsidiary in Northern Ireland reported a 15.3% rise in its turnover, reaching £335.8 million (€402million), a significant increase from £291.2 million in the previous year, according to latest financial statements. Over half of this turnover, equalling £175.9 million, was generated from the sale of soft drinks in the UK, while the remaining £159.8 million were stemmed from intercompany sales to other Coca-Cola branches in the Republic of Ireland.
The subsidiary, Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland, was staffed by 482 employees by the end of 2023 and incurred a total wage-related expenditure of £31.5 million. Directorial remuneration reached a total of £715,919, with the highest total package for a single director at £236,759.
The company’s pre-tax profit marked an increase to £43.6 million, up from £37.6 million the preceding year, and amassed profits reached £113.8 million, compared to £101 million the previous year. Its tax contribution for the year was £3.8 million, up from £2.4 million in 2022.
The company’s inventory, composed of raw material and finished products, was worth £10.7 million, and it was owed £68.1 million by its debtors, out of which £28.8 million was due from Coca-Cola group’s associated entities. In contrast, the company owed its creditors nearly £194 million, including close to £130 million due to other group entities, £14.2 million to trade creditors, and £27.1 million in outstanding accrued expenses.
Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland reported tangible assets worth £269.4 million, encompassing £103.2 worth of property and equipment, and £166.2 million worth of investments in subsidiary companies, one of which was Coca-Cola HBC Ireland Limited. The Irish subsidiary reported a turnover of €284.2 million in 2022 and a pre-tax profit of €32 million, as per the latest records.
In 2023, the Irish firm, European Refreshments Unlimited Company, recorded a turnover of €6.1 billion, a rise from €5.5 billion in the prior year. Its pre-tax earnings were €2.1 billion, an increase from €1.4 billion the year before, with a total tax liability of €356.1 million.
Company records indicate that the substantial sum of €2.7 billion was disbursed as a dividend by the Drogheda-located subsidiary to a branch in the Cayman Islands, marking the largest such distribution by the company to date.
From the year 2016 onwards, the Irish subsidiary of European Refreshments Unlimited Company has transferred dividends totalling €12.2 billion to the Cayman Islands.
The American beverage producer has been implicated in obscuring outsized profit figures by the US tax agency, coming to light amidst a ten-year disagreement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over $16 billion in unpaid taxes. The IRS alleges that the company utilised a range of jurisdictions, counting Ireland among them, to conceal these offshore resources.