Shares of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. fell Thursday after the company said it took a $5.3 billion write-down and that it lost $3.17 billion in the second quarter.
The stock fell 1 cent to end at $16.83, after earlier trading as low as $15.99, its lowest price since October 2001.
The slowdown in the U.S. economy, along with higher commodity costs and softer demand for soft drinks, has hurt the bottler. It is Coca-Cola Co.'s biggest bottler and has 80 percent of its U.S. market.
The company said it would raise prices after Labor Day to offset some of the declines.
"We continue to recommend investors stay on the sidelines for several reasons," Goldman Sachs analyst Judy Hong wrote to investors. "The U.S. business is likely to remain a drag with little signs of relief on the horizon."
Hong also noted the company's U.S. volumes fell 1.5 percent, even with a boost from sales of Glaceau's Vitaminwater, and said volume could be hurt further when the company raises prices this fall. Rising commodity prices could also hurt.
"We are taking action including establishing pricing levels that cover input costs, strengthening execution, restoring growth to immediate consumption by recruiting new consumers, and reducing operating expenses," Chief Executive John Block said in a statement.
It is one of 74 Coca-Cola bottlers in the U.S.
Hong noted that combined with a 2007 write-down of $2.9 billion, the company has had $8 billion in write-downs in the past two years.
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