Coca-Cola Enterprises Approves $1B Buyback, Reaffirms View

Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE:CCE) backed its fiscal guidance and said on Monday that its board has approved another $1 billion stock repurchase program.

The bottling company reaffirmed its 2011 EPS fiscal guidance in a range of $2.10 to 2.15, with revenue growing in the mid-single-digit range. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting a profit of $2.15 on sales of $8.37 billion.

The company said it is on track to complete an earlier-approved buyback program by the end of the year. While it has no obligation to finish either program, it plans to buy at least $500 million worth under the newer program in 2012.

The Atlanta-based maker of Coca-Cola products for Europe has so far purchased about $750 million of its shares as part of the plan approved in the third-quarter.