Dear shareholders and employees,
I would like to begin by thanking all of the Company’s shareholders for the trust they have placed in this Board of Directors to lead Coca-Cola Andina. The year 2024 presented significant challenges and opportunities in the markets where we operate. In a complex economic, political, and social context, and thanks to the commitment and dedication of the Coca-Cola Andina team, we continue to implement—with very Good results—our sustainable value creation strategy, which integrates Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects with the pillars of the business.
During this period, we observed mixed performances in the economies in which we operate. On the one hand, Argentina started off the year with a strong fiscal adjustment, seeking to put an end to hyperinflation and, at the same time, implemented a plan to liberalize the economy, including the end of Price controls. In Chile, we continued to experience low economic growth rates, inflationary pressures and weakened consumer demand. In Brazil, although there was an improvement in economic growth and a rebound in consumption, the high fiscal deficit is putting pressure on inflation and the exchange rate. Lastly, Paraguay maintained solid macroeconomic policies, which has resulted in sustained economic growth.
Under these conditions, we closed the year with volume growth of 3.0%, with a noteworthy 12.9% increase in Brazil. Although Argentina recorded a drop of 11.1%, there was significant improvement in the second half of the year, closing the fourth quarter with a volume increase of 6.2%, which makes us optimistic for 2025. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA reached Ch$578,192 million, an increase of 23.0% compared to the previous year. Thus, all four operations closed the year with positive results in Chilean pesos, with striking increases in Brazil (36.7%) and Argentina (48.7%). Finally, net income (profit attributable to the Company’s shareholders) reached Ch$232,663 million, an increase of 35.7% over the previous year.
During 2024, we initiated two very important projects for the Company’s future that reflect Coca-Cola Andina’s commitment to the sustainable development of the communities where it operates. The first one is the Re-Ciclar plant in Chile, which—with an investment of close to US$35 million and a capacity to recycle 350 million bottles per year—will allow us to produce food-graderecycled resin to be used in our PET bottles starting in 2025. The second project, involving an investment of approximately US$40 million, was the start up of the bottling plant in Mendoza to produce soft drinks in returnable packaging, one of the most environmentally friendly formats. In addition, this facility generates efficiencies in logistics, thereby reducing our carbon footprint and generating significant cost savings.
Ethics, transparency and corporate responsibility are fundamental values for Coca-Cola Andina. Committed to continuing to create sustainable value under these guidelines, this year we welcomed three new directors, two of who are women, bringing diversity, experience and specific skills in the areas of sustainability, technology and innovation. Furthermore, the Culture, Ethics and Sustainability Committee was split in two, creating the Governance, Compliance and Integrity Committee, which will help to give greater relevance to these issues. Finally, the Digital Transformation Committee was also created to give greater impetus to digitalization and innovation in the Company. These committees are chaired by women and report directly to the Board of Directors, thus facilitating the downstream strategy on these important issues. These changes will allow us to continue operating under the highest standards of corporate governance, as well as strengthen our organization, positioning us even more firmly to face future challenges with responsibility and excellence. Sustainability is key for conducting our business.
Consequently, we are proud to have been included once again in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Chile and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index MILA Pacific Alliance, obtaining the best score in the beverage industry in Chile and Latin America, and the fifth worldwide, which motivates us to continue working with commitment and dedication. In environmental matters, we continue to drive container recycling and returnability, with 34.2% of the soft drink mix packaged in these containers, which reflects our commitment to care for the environment and promote the circularity of our containers.
With respect to plastic reuse, in addition to inaugurating the Re-Ciclar plant, we completed one year of operating the Circular PET plant in Paraguay, where we already have containers manufactured with 100% recycled resin. This means that, at a consolidated level, 21.5% of the resin we use in Coca-Cola Andina is recycled. Along with the above, we continued our efforts to reduce wáter use in beverage manufacturing and secondary processes, which has allowed us to reduce our WUR (“Water Use Ratio”) by 22.3% since 2017. In order to continue reducing this ratio, the liquid industrial waste and effluent recovery plant will start operating at our Renca plant in 2025.
Climate action, which involves measuring and reducing our carbon footprint, is one of the most relevant sustainability issues for Coca-Cola Andina. In 2024 we defined an emissions reduction target for 2030, signing a letter of commitment with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and drafting an associated decarbonization plan, a process that is still underway. One of the actions of this plan was to sign an agreement with Pampa Energía to incorporate wind energy in the operations of the Córdoba, Trelew, Bahía Blanca and Andina Empaques plants in Argentina, thus obtaining more than 44.9% of the energy used in 2024 from renewable sources on a consolidated level.
On the social front, we continued implementing various initiatives that seek to generate shared value in the territories where we operate, with a special focus on recycling, efficient water use, training and employability. In 2024, our Chilean operations began implementing the Local Value initiative, aimed at developing and contracting suppliers from small and medium-sized companies in the communities where we have operations.
One of the cross-cutting pillars of development at Coca-Cola Andina is digital transformation. During the reporting period we continued to advance in the digitalization of customer management and the automation of various processes, which allowed us—among other things—to achieve 64% digital invoicing in December in all our sales channels. In addition, we have launched new digital tools that allow us to strengthen our value proposition to our customers, carriers and sellers. For the second year in a row, we were recognized as the most innovative company in the Beverages and Juices category in the Most Innovative Companies (MIC) ranking and we won first place in the “Best Corporate-Startup Strategic Alliance” category at the Innova Summit, which reaffirms our commitment to innovation.
All of the above resulted in a significant increase in the value of the Company’s shares during 2024 with respect to the previous year: series A recorded an increase of 37.4% and series B an increase of 38.1%, returns that climb to 46.4% and 46.1%, respectively, when including the dividends distributed in the total shareholder return. Looking to the future, we will continue to strengthen our teams, promoting diversity and inclusion throughout, as well as developing returnability and promoting bottle recycling, reducing our use of water and energy and encouraging responsable consumption habits among our citizens.
Finally, I would like to thank each and every person who makes up Coca-Cola Andina for their commitment, dedication and effort, as well as our shareholders, customers, suppliers and communities with whom we make our purpose of “reaching every corner together to refresh moments and create opportunities” a reality every day. I invite you to continue building a Total Beverage Company and to continue creating sustainable economic and social value in the countries where we operate.
