Coca-Cola recommends first stock split since 1996

New York:The Coca-Cola Co. is seeking itsfirst stock split in 16 years.

The world's biggest beverage maker today said the 2-for-1split is in line with its plan to double revenue over thisdecade. The Atlanta-based company's stock began trading in1919. Since then, the stock has been split only 10 other

times.

Companies split stocks when they think their share pricehas gotten too expensive or if the stock is trading too farabove similar companies' stock.

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If approved, Coke's split would increase the number of itsshares to 11.2 billion from 5.6 billion. Shareholders wouldreceive one additional share of stock for each share held inearly August.

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The move is subject to approval by shareowners on 10 July.Last week, Coca-Cola reported another first quarter profitthat beat Wall Street expectations. The strong performancecame as the company sold more of its drinks worldwide,particularly in emerging markets like China and India.

A key aspect of Coca-Cola's success in recent years hasbeen its ability to deftly manage rising commodity costs. Toavoid scaring off price-sensitive customers, Coke has insteadfocused on offering a variety of smaller drink sizes thathave higher profit margins.

Those smaller sizes are often welcomed by health consciousconsumers as well.

Shares of Coke added 47 cents to $74.59 in morningtrading. The stock is up about 7 percent in the year to date.

AP