ATLANTA, April 16 (Reuters) - Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. <KO.N>, boosted by strong sales in its key North American market, reported on Tuesday a first-quarter profit before special items that beat Wall Street's consensus forecast.
The world's No. 1 soft-drink company reported net income of $801 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with $863 million, or 35 cents a share, a year before. But after the application of a new accounting standard and other nonrecurring items, Coke posted a net loss of $125 million, or 5 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2002.
For the first quarter of 2002, analysts' earnings estimates ranged from 37 cents a share to 39 cents a share, with the consensus at 38 cents, according to research firm Thomson Financial/First Call.
Coca-Cola said unit case volume, a key measure of financial health in the beverage industry, grew 5 percent overall and by the same amount in North America, its largest market.
The company added that its volume outlook for 2002 remained unchanged and that it was comfortable with analysts' current earnings estimates for the full year.
((Paul Simao, Reuters Atlanta Bureau (404) 327-5787 or email paul.simao@reuters.com))





<center>

<HR>

</center>