Coke stands by its support for China games

updated 6:08 p.m. ET April 16, 2008

ATLANTA - Coca-Cola gave investors Wednesday good news on the profit front, then stood by its support of the Summer Olympics in Beijing as vocal shareholders inside and protesters outside the company's annual meeting questioned the beverage maker's business practices.

The company believes the torch relay as part of the run-up to the Olympics should continue, Chief Executive Neville Isdell said.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is a corporate sponsor of the torch relay.

The relay has been disrupted in Greece, Istanbul, London, Paris and San Francisco by protesters opposed to China's policies in Tibet and overall human rights record. There has been no trouble at recent stops in Argentina, Tanzania, Oman and Pakistan.

At Coca-Cola's annual meeting in Wilmington, Del., a shareholder asked Isdell how Coca-Cola planned to address the concerns raised.

"I don't believe that stopping the torch run is in any way over the long-run going to be the right thing to do," Isdell said.

Pressed to agree to use the company's influence to put pressure on the Chinese government and Olympic officials, Isdell said flatly, "We are not a political organization."

China was cited in Coke's earnings report as a growing market for the company.

The IOC has said it will review plans for the remainder of the Beijing Olympic torch relay and consider scrapping the international portion of the event for future games.

International Olympic Committee officials have expressed concern about the disruption caused by anti-Chinese protests during the relay.

The IOC has said there are no plans for canceling the rest of the relay, which has been a magnet for protests since the flame embarked March 24 on its 85,000-mile journey from Ancient Olympia in Greece as part of its 21-stop, six-continent tour.

The torch relay is expected to end in mainland China on May 4. The Beijing Olympics start Aug. 8.

Earlier Wednesday, Coca-Cola reported that its first-quarter profit rose 19 percent due to acquisitions and overseas growth, offsetting unimpressive results in its home North America unit that were affected by fewer people going out to eat because of fuel prices and the slowing U.S. economy.

The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The world's biggest beverage company said its profit was $1.50 billion, or 64 cents a share, in the three-month period ending March 28. That compared to a profit of $1.26 billion, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Coca-Cola said it earned $1.58 billion, or 67 cents a share, in the quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 63 cents a share in the quarter. Analysts generally exclude one-time items from their estimates.

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