Greek Coke bottler to close Romanian plant -source

ATHENS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Hellenic (CCH) HLB.AT, the world's No.2 bottler of Coke drinks, plans to shut down one of its five plants in Romania in a bid to save costs, a source close to the situation said on Tuesday.

"Coca-Cola Hellenic plans to close down its plant in Oradea, which has two production lines, by November and some 100 people will be affected," the person, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

"The employees will either move to other positions within the firm or be made redundant and receive the compensation Romanian law provides for," the source added.

The plant, one of the small ones in Romania, will continue to operate as a distribution center for CCH's products, they added.

CCH, 23.3 percent owned by Coca-Cola (KO.N), has said sales volume in Romania posted a high single-digit percentage growth in the second quarter of the year.

In June, CCH cut its 2008 profit and sale volume guidance, citing rising costs and adverse conditions in some of its markets. But it stuck on its plans to invest about 600 million euros in a software platform this year to improve sales and customer services.

The bottler trades at 12.3 times its estimated 2008 earnings, compared with 13 times for Coca Cola Enterprises (CCE.N) and 17 for Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL.AX). (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Quentin Bryar)