Ronaldo snub wipes $4bn off Coca-Cola's market value

Watch: Ronaldo pushes Coke bottles aside to drink water

More than $4bn (£2.8bn) was wiped off the value of Coca-Cola after Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to snub the fizzy drink maker at a press conference earlier this week.

Shares in the drinks maker dropped as much as 1.7pc after the press conference on Monday in which Ronaldo removed two bottles of Coca-Cola from in front of him. The slide took its value from $242bn to $238bn, although it later recovered some of those losses.

Ronaldo's outburst took place at a pre-match press conference in Budapest on Monday ahead of the football game between Portugal and Hungary.

After moving the bottles, Ronaldo held up a water bottle, saying "agua", seen as a suggestion that instead people should drink water. He later went on to score two goals in the Euros game, which saw Portugal win 3-0 over Hungary.

Ronaldo is well known for having a strict diet, which includes lean meats and sees him avoid sugary foods.

Coca-Cola responded to the move, saying “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” with different “tastes and needs”.

A spokesman for the Euros said: "Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences."

Ronaldo's move has, however, garnered support from anti-obesity campaigners. Caroline Cerny, Alliance Lead at Obesity Health Alliance, told the Telegraph earlier this week: "It is great to see a role model like Cristiano Ronaldo reject Coca-Cola for water, setting a positive example for young fans and showing his disdain for a cynical marketing attempt to link him with a sugary drink".

The drinks maker had taken a hit during the start of the pandemic, with sales slumping across all its markets as the world went into lockdown. However, it said in April this year that it was experiencing a rebound as many pubs and restaurants were able to reopen. In the first three months of the year,Coca-Cola reported net revenue of $9bn, up 5pc on the same period a year earlier.

Over 2021 as a whole, the company, which also makes Sprite and Fanta, said it was forecasting organic sales growth in the high single-digits.

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