Coca-Cola profits dip as sales fall

Coca-Cola has long touted its broad geographic reach and ability to make up for sluggish sales in one market with increases in another.

Second-quarter results show there is a limit to that trick, especially when Mother Nature and global economic forces refuse to co-operate.

Second-quarter profit at the world’s largest beverage company declined 4% amid constrained sales around the globe. Unseasonable weather from India to America hurt consumption, as did slowing economic growth in China, struggling consumers in Europe, and changing beverage tastes in the US.