Coca-Cola forecasts drop in 2017 profit amid refranchising

Coca-Cola has been offloading much of its low-margin bottling business to cope with falling demand for carbonated beverages in North America. Coca-Cola, like rival PepsiCo Inc , has also been building its non-carbonated drinks portfolio. Costs related to the refranchising of Coca-Cola's U.S. bottling operations look to be a more meaningful drag on the company's full-year profit than analysts were expecting, brokerage Cowen & Co said in a note to clients.