Latin America: Solid Third Quarter

BY CHRONICLE STAFF

While Latin America is growing increasingly nervous about the potential impact of the U.S. economic crisis, sales and profits are growing strongly at multinationals operating in the region.

The third-quarter results show double-digit growth for companies like Coca-Cola, Delta and Harley-Davidson – contrasting with their declines in the United States. Meanwhile, oil services companies like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Weatherford are growing at twice the rate in Latin America as they are in the United States, according to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of their third-quarter results. Similarly, Citigroup posted a Latin America revenue decline which was half the rate of the U.S. fall. Here is a company-by-company overview grouped by industry:

BEVERAGE

U.S.-based Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft-drink maker, boosted third quarter revenue in Latin America by 24 percent to $1.0 billion, while operating income grew by 30 percent to $559 million. By contrast, U.S. sales fell...

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Keywords: American Airlines, Citigroup, Delta Air Lines, Ericsson, Experian, Halliburton, Harley-Davidson, Nokia, PepsiCo, SABMiller, Schlumberger, SKF, VF Corporation, Weatherford International