Who Wants a Coke

What country will be guzzling down the most bottles of Coke?

When Coca-Cola Co. chairman and chief executive Muhtar Kent looks at future market trends, he divides the world into quadrants. "A tale of four different cities," he said on a conference call today.

1. Europe, North America and few other economies: "We will probably be experiencing resets in terms of the consumer psyche, where they’ll probably do things differently than they have done in the past."

2. China, India, parts of Brazil: "Very strong, quick rebound."

3. Japan: "Stagnation."

4. Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine: "I’ll call volatility, more zigs and zags, come back quickly and then it can go back down quickly."

Thanks to international sales, Coca-Cola, which also makes Sprite and VitaminWater, said it earned $2.04 billion, or 88 cents per share, up from $1.42 billion, or 61 cents, a year earlier. Rapid overseas growth helped offset falling sales, triggered by the stronger dollar, said analysts.

"For billions of consumers around the world, Coca-Cola and all our brands remain an affordable luxury," said Kent.

--Kendra Marr