Coca-Cola HBC dividend: cash, coverage and yield
Coca-Cola HBC's latest payment was €1.20 per share. The cash coverage is not a simple yes: capital spending, lease payments and interest absorbed much of operating cash.
How much does Coca-Cola HBC pay in dividends over time?
Base dividends increase from €1.32 to €1.58 per share. The path follows HBC’s progressive policy and its recent 44% payout, while allowing investment and financing needs to absorb some cash. The bear case holds the latest €1.20 dividend for two periods before a small recovery; the bull case reaches €1.85 as earnings and cash conversion improve. The latest payment was €1.20, but free cash flow weakened in 2025 and again in the first half of 2026.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS, diluted | 2.59 | 2.25 | 1.73 | 1.13 | 1.49 |
| − Dividends paid, per share | 1.03 | 0.93 | 0.78 | 0.71 | 0.64 |
| − Share buybacks, per share | 0.00 | 0.50 | 0.12 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| = FCF not paid out, per share | 0.49 | 0.25 | 0.84 | 0.89 | 0.80 |
What this means. The company's own free cash flow per share is higher than our real free cash flow per share because its calculation leaves out interest and adds back some cash payments, while ours also removes shares given to employees as pay.
Is Coca-Cola HBC's dividend covered by its cash?
In 2025, capital spending, lease payments and interest absorbed much of the operating cash. Stock-based pay reduced the economic remainder further because employee awards give staff a claim on future shareholder value, even though they do not consume the same cash immediately.
Management reported €700.0 million of its own free cash flow. Its bridge uses different deductions and changed in 2025 to add acquisition costs back into operating cash. That makes the measure useful as management’s view, but less useful for an unchanged comparison across years. The specialist keeps one consistent bridge and treats the company’s figure as a second lens.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow | 551.8 | 615.3 | 640.7 | 585.6 | 526.8 |
| − Dividends paid | 374.4 | 339.7 | 287.2 | 260.2 | 233.6 |
| − Share buybacks | 0.0 | 183.0 | 42.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| = Free cash flow not paid out | 177.4 | 92.6 | 310.7 | 325.2 | 293.0 |
| Paid out, % of free cash flow | 67.9% | 85.0% | 51.5% | 44.4% | 44.3% |
| Paid out, % of real free cash flow | 70.7% | 87.2% | 53.2% | 45.7% | 45.6% |
What could change Coca-Cola HBC's dividend?
The view would move toward the bear case if CCBA completion or integration disappoints during 2027–28, if net debt rises while EPS and free cash flow fall, or if currencies and trapped Russian cash reduce reported earnings through 2029. Capacity and input costs exceeding profitable volume would add another downside signal.
| October 2027 | October 2028 | October 2029 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings | 1,174 (1,067 / 1,231) | 1,263 (1,040 / 1,387) | 1,362 (1,037 / 1,544) |
| Shares (millions) | 387 (366 / 387) | 387 (387 / 387) | 388 (388 / 383) |
| Dividends per share | 1.32 (1.20 / 1.40) | 1.45 (1.20 / 1.62) | 1.58 (1.25 / 1.85) |
| Price to earnings | 16.30 (14.00 / 18.00) | 16.30 (13.00 / 19.00) | 16.30 (12.00 / 20.00) |
What this means. The figures in brackets show the lower and higher estimates if business conditions are worse or better than expected.
What is Coca-Cola HBC's dividend yield against its price?
EBITDA means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. It helps compare operating businesses, but it is not cash. A bottler needs factories, trucks and café coolers; depreciation records the use of those assets, while cash is needed later to replace them. CCH generated €700.0 million of free cash flow in 2025, while capital expenditure was €827.6 million. The cash-flow and dividend yields therefore need to be judged against several years of investment, not one period.