Monster Beverage Results Disappoint

Monster Beverage Corp. posted disappointing results in the latest quarter as the stronger U.S. dollar and distribution transitions continue to weigh on the energy-drink maker.

Shares, down 5.9% this year, fell another 5.9% to $131.88 in after-hours trading.

In June 2015, Coca-Cola Co. paid $2.15 billion to buy a 16.7% stake in Monster as part of an asset swap in which it also became Monster's preferred distributor. Issues related to the distribution transition have weighed on Monster's results since then.

On Thursday, Monster Chief Executive Rodney Sacks said the alignment continued to progress, with transitions to Coca-Cola bottlers in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa and other countries in Africa during the quarter.

He also said the company is continuing to see improvements in the quality of distribution in the U.S., but that the continued strength of the U.S. dollar and distributor transitions affected results.

For the September quarter, the company earned $191.6 million, or 99 cents a share, up from $174.6 million, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue climbed 4.1% to $788 million. The company said unfavorable currency exchange rates hit sales by about $2.6 million during the quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected adjusted profit of $1.12 a share on $818.8 million in revenue.

Gross margin improved to 63.8% from 61.5% a year ago.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 03, 2016 17:35 ET (21:35 GMT)

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