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By Bloomberg

Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest beverage company, reported fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by cost-cutting efforts and a shift toward higher-priced drinks.

Excluding some items, profit was 44 cents a share in the period, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts estimated 42 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While revenue dropped 1.5 percent to $10.9 billion, that also exceeded projections. Analysts had predicted sales of $10.8 billion.

Coca-Cola Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent, coping with currency challenges and sluggish growth worldwide, is trimming expenses and selling more premium-priced beverages. He aims to pare $3 billion from Coca-Cola’s annual costs. He’s also confronting mounting concerns over obesity and artificial sweeteners.

Coca-Cola “has been relatively diligent in its pricing strategy, which we believe has and will continue to drive top- line growth in domestic markets,” Bonnie Herzog, a New York- based analyst for Wells Fargo & Co., said in a note last week. She rates the shares outperform, the equivalent of a buy.

Coca-Cola shares rose as much as 4.5 percent to $43.08 in premarket trading after the results were released. The shares had dropped 2.3 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a 0.6 percent decline for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Dollar’s Impact

Global volume grew 1 percent last quarter. Excluding the effects of currency, revenue would have grown about 4 percent in the period, the company said.

Like many U.S. businesses with a global footprint, Coca- Cola has seen the strong dollar erode the value of its overseas sales. Currency fluctuations will continue to weigh on results in the first quarter and the remainder of 2015, the company said. Currency will crimp revenue by 5 points and profit by 7 to 8 points in the year.

Leaving out the currency impact, Coca-Cola’s biggest revenue growth came from Latin America last quarter, with a 14 percent increase. That was followed by 5 percent gains in North America and Africa-Eurasia. The Asia-Pacific region lagged behind, with a 1 percent sales decline.

The company cited marketing investments and a “continued rational approach to pricing” for helping maintain sales in North America.

“We also gained volume and value share in sparkling and still beverages as well as in the juice and juice drinks and ready-to-drink tea categories,” Coca-Cola said in the statement.