Coca-Cola HBC Proposes 17% Dividend Increase After Africa Acquisition

The Tip Desk · March 20, 2026 · 1 min read

The company proposed a dividend of €1.20 per share for 2025, representing a 44% payout ratio of comparable earnings per share [4].

Coca-Cola HBC AG, a strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company, announced a proposed dividend of €1.20 per share for 2025. This represents a 17% increase over the prior year and a payout ratio of 44%, which falls within the company's target range of 40% to 50%.

The company announced an agreement to acquire a 75% majority stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Africa. The company stated it has a clear path to full ownership of the business. This acquisition is expected to be low-single digit EPS accretive in the first full year following completion.

Following the completion of the CCBA deal, the company expects leverage to increase, though it anticipates remaining within its medium-term target range of 1.5x to 2.0x net debt to comparable EBITDA. The company stated it does not anticipate any impact on its credit rating and intends to maintain a strong investment-grade profile. To facilitate the acquisition, the company cancelled its share buyback programme on 21 October 2025.

Financial performance for the year included free cash flow of €700.0 million, despite increased capital expenditure on production capacity, supply chain automation, and energy-efficient coolers. The company closed the year with net debt to comparable EBITDA at 0.7 times.

In its Swiss statutory reporting, the company reported a loss for the year of CHF 52,796 thousand, compared to a loss of CHF 38,979 thousand in 2024. Total operating income for the period was CHF 415,142 thousand.

Looking to 2026, the company expects the geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop to remain challenging and anticipates a mixed consumer environment across its markets.