Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:CCE) Q4 2015 Earnings Conference Call - Final Transcript

Good day, and welcome to the Coca-Cola Enterprises fourth quarter 2015 conference call. At the request of Coca-Cola Enterprises, this conference is being recorded for instant replay purposes.At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Thor Erickson, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. We appreciate you joining us today to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2015 results and our outlook for 2016. Before we begin, I would like to remind you of our cautionary statements. This call will contain forward-looking management comments and other statements reflecting our outlook for future periods. These comments should be considered in conjunction with the cautionary language contained in this morning's release as well as the detailed cautionary statements found in our most recent Annual Report on form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. A copy of this information is available on our website at www.cokecce.com.

Additionally, it is important to highlight that statements made about Coca-Cola European Partners or CCEP, and the proposed merger on today's call, are made with full recognition that this is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions of closing, that until closing of the transaction, we are operating our businesses separately and independently.

Today's prepared remarks will be made by John Brock, our CEO; and Nik Jhangiani, our CFO. Hubert Patricot, President of our European Group, is also with us on this call this morning. Following the prepared remarks, we will open the call for your questions. In order to give as many people as possible the opportunity to ask questions, please limit yourself to one question and we will take follow-up questions as time permits.

Now, I'll turn the call over to John Brock.

Thank you, Thor, and we thank each of you for joining us, as we review our results for the fourth quarter and full year 2015. Before I begin, I wanted to mention that Damian Gammell, our COO, will not be on the call with us today. However, he is looking forward to being with us and you at CAGNY next week.

In 2015 we continue to face the impact of a softer than expected consumer goods sector. As we work through this environment, we continued to manage each element of our business to drive value. Through this work, for the full year, we delivered slightly positive operating income growth, earnings per share growth of 8.5% and solid free cash flow, all in line with our guidance from a year ago. Nik will provide more details on our financial results in a few minutes.

Total 2015 volume declined 0.5%. This reflects a 1.5% decline for sparkling drinks and a 2% decline for Coca-Cola trademark brands, even as Coca-Cola Zero contributed solid growth of 5% for the year. Sparkling flavors grew 0.5%, driven primarily by growth of over 10% in our energy portfolio. Monster brands grew more than 17%. Still beverages grew 4%. Juices were up 2% with double-digit growth in Capri-Sun, achieved through flavor and packaging