Coca-Cola 3rd-quarter profit declines

The Coca-Cola Co. said Tuesday its third-quarter profit declined less than 1 percent, as sales fell as consumers continued to limit soft drink purchases and the stronger dollar took a toll on revenue.

The world's biggest beverage maker says it earned $1.91 billion, or 81 cents per share, compared with $1.92 billion, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.

Results in the most recent quarter included a 1-cent restructuring charge.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest soft-drink maker, says revenue slumped to $8.04 billion from $8.39 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who usually exclude one-time items from their estimates, forecast profit of 81 cents per share on revenue of $8.11 billion.

Shares of Coca-Cola fell $1.04 to $53.75 in premarket trading.

Sales rose in emerging markets including India, China and Brazil.

The company said that a strong U.S. dollar hurt earnings per share during the quarter, because about 85 percent of Coca-Cola's profit comes from sales abroad. A strong dollar dampens foreign sales for U.S. companies, because overseas sales convert back to fewer U.S. dollars.