Coca Cola 2014 Annual Report Download - page 66

64
Share Repurchases
On July 20, 2006, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized a share repurchase program of up to 600 million shares of the
Company’s common stock. The program took effect on October 31, 2006. Although there were approximately 43 million shares that
were yet to be purchased under this share repurchase program, the Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program of
up to 500 million shares of the Company’s common stock on October 18, 2012 (the “2012 Plan”). The 2012 Plan allowed the Company
to continue repurchasing shares following the completion of the prior program. The table below presents annual shares repurchased
and average price per share:
Year Ended December 31, 2014 2013 2012
Number of shares repurchased (in millions) 98 121 121
Average price per share $ 40.97 $ 39.84 $ 37.11
Since the inception of our initial share repurchase program in 1984 through our current program as of December 31, 2014, we
have purchased 3.2 billion shares of our Company’s common stock at an average price per share of $14.66. In addition to shares
repurchased under the share repurchase programs authorized by our Board of Directors, the Company’s treasury stock activity also
includes shares surrendered to the Company to pay the exercise price and/or to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection
with so-called stock swap exercises of employee stock options and/or the vesting of restricted stock issued to employees. In 2014, we
repurchased $4.0 billion of our stock. However, due to the timing of settlements, the total amount of treasury stock purchases that
settled during 2014 was $4.2 billion, which includes treasury stock that was purchased and settled during 2014 as well as treasury
stock purchased in December 2013 that settled in early 2014. The net impact of the Company’s treasury stock issuance and purchase
activities in 2014 resulted in a net cash outflow of $2.6 billion. We currently expect to repurchase $2.0 billion to $3.0 billion of our stock
during 2015, net of proceeds from the issuance of treasury stock due to the exercise of employee stock options.
Dividends
At its February 2015 meeting, our Board of Directors increased our quarterly dividend by 8 percent, raising it to $0.33 per share,
equivalent to a full year dividend of $1.32 per share in 2015. This is our 53rd consecutive annual increase. Our annual common stock
dividend was $1.22 per share, $1.12 per share and $1.02 per share in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The 2014 dividend represented
a 9 percent increase from 2013, and the 2013 dividend represented a 10 percent increase from 2012.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Aggregate Contractual Obligations
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
In accordance with the definition under SEC rules, the following qualify as off-balance sheet arrangements:
• any obligation under certain guarantee contracts;
• a retained or contingent interest in assets transferred to an unconsolidated entity or similar arrangement that serves as credit,
liquidity or market risk support to that entity for such assets;
• any obligation under certain derivative instruments; and
• any obligation arising out of a material variable interest held by the registrant in an unconsolidated entity that provides
financing, liquidity, market risk or credit risk support to the registrant, or engages in leasing, hedging or research and
development services with the registrant.
As of December 31, 2014, we were contingently liable for guarantees of indebtedness owed by third parties of $565 million, of which
$155 million was related to VIEs. These guarantees are primarily related to third-party customers, bottlers, vendors and container
manufacturing operations and have arisen through the normal course of business. These guarantees have various terms, and none
of these guarantees was individually significant. The amount represents the maximum potential future payments that we could be
required to make under the guarantees; however, we do not consider it probable that we will be required to satisfy these guarantees.
Management concluded that the likelihood of any significant amounts being paid by our Company under these guarantees is not
probable. As of December 31, 2014, we were not directly liable for the debt of any unconsolidated entity, and we did not have any
retained or contingent interest in assets as defined above.
Our Company recognizes all derivatives as either assets or liabilities at fair value in our consolidated balance sheets. Refer to Note 5 of
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.