Fitch Upgrades Coca-Cola Embonor S.A.'s IDRs to 'BBB' & Withdraws the Ratings

SANTIAGO, Chile--(Business Wire)--
Fitch Ratings has upgraded the international foreign and local
currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Coca-Cola Embonor S.A.
(Embonor) to 'BBB' from 'BBB-' and simultaneously withdraws them.

The upgrades reflect the continuous improvement of Embonor's main
credit metrics during the last five years, as well as its strong
Business position in Chile and Bolivia. Additional factors supporting
the ratings include Coca-Cola's 45.5% ownership stake in the company.
Fitch believes Coca-Cola (KO, long-term IDR rated 'A+') would
financially support the company, if needed, to preserve its reputation
for supporting bottlers in which it has a significant economic stake.

Embonor's net debt to EBITDA ratio has improved to 1.7x in June
2008 from 4.8x in December 2003. The improvement is a result of
increasing EBITDA levels due to higher sales volume, cost reductions
and debt repayments. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2008, Embonor
generated Ch$52.403 million of EBITDA, an increase from Ch$48.917
million in 2006 and Ch$42.342 million in 2005. The company's funds
from operations (FFO) has also grown significantly during this time
period. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2008, Embonor generated
Ch$42.154 million of FFO. This figure compares with Ch$38.418 million
in 2006 and Ch$27.076 million in 2005.

During the six months ended June 30, 2008, Chilean volumes grew by
5% and Bolivian volumes grew by 17%, resulting in 9% growth in the
company's sales volumes compared to the same period in 2007. As of
June 30, 2008, Embonor had Ch$23.421 million of cash and marketable
securities and Ch$110.789 million of total financial debt. The
company's net financial debt has improved to Ch$87.368 million as of
June 30, 2008 from Ch$89.568 million as of December 31, 2007.
Liquidity is not a concern as the company has sufficient cash to cover
Ch$11.865 million of short-term debt.

Embonor margins have decreased slightly due to cost increases
driven by higher concentrate costs and energy costs. Rating concerns
also include political and social risks in Bolivia. Embonor has been a
Coca-Cola bottler in Chile since 1962. During 1995 and 1996, the
company acquired Coca-Cola bottling operations in Bolivia. Embonor
accounts for about 36% of the sales of Coca-Cola products in Chile and
almost 100% of the sales of Coca-Cola products in Bolivia.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings
are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com.
Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this
site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality,
conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other
relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of
Conduct' section of this site

Fitch Ratings
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