NEW YORK : Coca-Cola Co. on Tuesday reported first quarter profits rose 14 percent to US$1.26 billion as weak sales in the US were offset by big increases in China, Russia and other emerging markets.

The profit amounted to 56 cents a share excluding one-time costs, topping the average Wall Street estimate of 53 cents.

Overall revenues for the January-March quarter rose 17 percent from a year ago to US$6.1 billion.

Coca-Cola said the first-quarter earnings included a net charge primarily related to an asset write-off at its Philippines bottler, which was partially offset by gains on the sales of its stake in the Brazilian bottler and real estate in Spain.

The results were driven by worldwide case volume growth of six percent, the highest since 2002.

The world's largest beverage maker said international unit case volumes rose nine percent, boosted by growth of seven percent in trademark Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola said most of its top 22 markets delivered "solid" growth.

Latin America continued to deliver "strong" growth across the region. Key emerging markets, including China, Russia, South Africa, Nigeria, Eastern Europe and southern Eurasia all increased at double-digit rates, the company said.

"This is a strong quarter and a strong start to 2007," chairman and chief executive Neville Isdell said. "You can track our progress bottle by bottle around the globe. We grew both sparkling and still beverages while efficiently allocating our resources."

But North American sales volumes fell three percent, linked to slumping sales of carbonated beverages in the US market.

President and chief operating officer Muhtar Kent said that while international sales offset the volume decline in North America, "We know what we need to do in North America and are carefully addressing the issues. It will take some time to achieve the results we desire in this key market, but we expect sequential improvement as we move into the second half of the year."

The Atlanta, Georgia-based firm has been moving into other products such as bottled water and energy drinks to respond to shifts in consumer preferences, especially in the US market. - AFP/de