Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I would like to welcome you to the Coca-Cola İçecek conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the third quarter 2025 financial and operational results. We are here with the management team, and today's speakers are the CEO, Mr. Karim Yahi, and CFO, Ms. Çiçek Uşaklıgil Özgüneş. Before starting, I would like to kindly remind you to review the disclaimer on the webcast presentation. After the call, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Burak Berki, Head of Investor Relations. Sir, the floor is yours. Please go ahead.
Good morning and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our third quarter 2025 results webcast. As the operator said, I'm here with our CEO, Karim Yahi, and CFO, Çiçek Uşaklıgil . Today's remarks will be accompanied by a slide deck. We will then turn the call over to your questions. Before we begin, please kindly be advised of our cautionary statements. The conference call may contain forward-looking management comments, including projections. These should be considered in conjunction with the cautionary language contained in our earnings release. A copy of our earnings release and financials are available on our website. In addition, in accordance with the decree of the Capital Markets Board, our 2025 financials are reported using TAS 29 Financial Reporting in Hyper-Inflationary Economies.
The financial figures in this presentation and all comparative amounts for previous periods have been adjusted according to the change in the general purchasing power of the Turkish lira in accordance with TAS 29 and are finally expressed in terms of the purchasing power of the Turkish lira as of September 13th, 2025. However, certain items from our financials are also presented without inflation adjustments for information purposes. These annotated figures are clearly identified as such. Following the call, a full transcript will be made available as soon as possible on our website. Now, let me turn the call over to Mr. Karim Yahi.
Thank you, Burak. Good morning and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining CCI's third quarter 2025 results webcast.
With the first nine months of 2025 behind us, we continue to execute on our strategic priorities with a clear focus on affordability, balanced volume, and value-led growth, as outlined at the beginning of the year. In the third quarter of 2025, we delivered strong results, achieving an 8.9% year-on-year increase in consolidated sales volume, reaching 477 million unit cases. This growth was broad-based, with all international markets contributing positively. Central Asia stood out with an exceptional 27% increase, driven by continued momentum in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Our still category led the volume growth with a 26% increase, while the sparkling category delivered a solid 8.9% growth, reinforcing the strength of our diversified portfolio. We also maintained progress on our quality mix strategy. Immediate consumption share rose by 6 basis points, and on-premise shares expanded by 62 basis points year-on-year, reaching 30.5%.
From a brand and category perspective, Fuze Tea grew by 47.9%, and the energy segment was up by 42.6% year-on-year. These results reflect our disciplined execution and ability to balance volume growth with value creation despite a challenging context. Our strong operational performance translated into solid financial results, driven by margin expansion and disciplined cost management. In the third quarter, we recorded consolidated revenue of TRY 52.2 billion, with an increase of 6.7% compared to the same period of last year. Gross profit margin improved by 166 basis points year-on-year, supported by both Türkiye and international operations. EBIT margin expanded by 125 basis points, mainly reflecting improvements in gross margin and operating effectiveness. As a result, net income reached TRY 7.2 billion, up 4.2% year-on-year, despite lower monetary gains, thanks to enhanced operating profit and tight financial expense management.
These outcomes underscore our ability to deliver sustainable bottom-line growth while navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment. Excluding TAS 29 adjustments, our nine-month results demonstrate continued momentum with 8.6% volume growth and a healthy 16.6% EBIT margin, fully aligned with our focus on quality growth. Over the past five years, our disciplined approach has translated into sustained value creation with 7% CAGR in volume and 17% top-line growth, as well as 17% EBIT growth in US dollar terms. As we approach the final month of the year, we remain focused on managing volatility and driving profitable growth. We are confident in delivering our full-year EBIT guidance.
While net sales revenue per unit case may come in slightly below initial expectations, our volume performance is ahead of plan, and we expect EBIT margin dilution versus prior year to remain within the acceptable range we characterized as slight at the beginning of the year. Next slide, please. CCI's consolidated volume in the third quarter was up by 8.9% at 477 million unit cases, compared to the same period of last year, bringing the cumulative sales volume for the first nine months of the year to 1.3 billion unit cases, up by 8.6% year-on-year. All international markets contributed positively, reinforcing the strength of our diversified geographical footprint. Meanwhile, Türkiye operations recorded a modest decline of 1.7%, primarily driven by a double-digit drop in the water category. This performance is in line with our multi-year strategy to prioritize value-adding categories over low-margin segments.
In the third quarter of 2025, the sparkling category grew by 8.9%. Led by Coca-Cola Trademark, which delivered a solid 9.1% increase. Fanta also contributed strongly with 14% growth, supporting the category's overall positive performance. The still category delivered an outstanding 26% growth in the third quarter, accelerating from 20.6% in the previous quarter. This remarkable performance was powered by Fuze Tea, which surged by an impressive 47.9%, reaffirming its position as a key growth driver in our portfolio. We continue to closely monitor consumer trends and have been gradually strengthening our recruitment efforts by focusing on smaller packs, the on-premise channel, and our no-sugar product portfolio, with a clear focus on quality mix, in line with our long-term strategy. Next slide, please.
In the third quarter of 2025, sales volume in Türkiye declined by 1.7% year-on-year to 173 million unit cases, bringing the cumulative nine-month volume to 462 million unit cases, a slight decrease of 0.4% compared to the same period last year. Although sales volumes remained in positive territory during July and August, supported by favorable weather conditions, volumes declined in September due to deteriorating weather conditions and weakening consumer purchasing power. Also, it is important to note that volume softness was mainly due to the decline in the water category, which was a deliberate choice. In Türkiye, we continue to consistently focus on driving quality mix. The share of immediate consumption packages remained unchanged at 33.4% in the third quarter, cycling a strong 181 basis point year-on-year increase recorded in the third quarter of 2024.
The on-premise channel share in Türkiye increased by 48 basis points, reaching 32.4% in the third quarter. Türkiye operations' net sales revenue declined by 0.9%, while net sales revenue per unit case grew by 0.9%, marking a steady improvement trend since the beginning of the year. Excluding TAS 29 adjustments, net sales revenue in Türkiye grew by 32.3% in the third quarter, while net sales revenue per unit case reached TRY 136.2, reflecting a strong 34.6% year-on-year increase. In US dollar terms, net sales revenue per unit case grew by 10.7%, reaching $3.35. A 10-year record high. This performance was driven by our continued focus on efficient revenue growth management initiatives, including mix management, supported by close monitoring of consumer purchasing power to ensure affordability, while also keeping a close eye on cost inflation dynamics and optimized trade promotions to sustain competitiveness.
Türkiye operations' gross margin increased by 44 basis points, driven by right pricing, a normalized cost base, and effective mix management initiatives, while maintaining a clear focus on balancing value to offset volume softness. Excluding the impact of inflation accounting, Türkiye's gross margin remained stable at 44.2% in the third quarter, bringing the cumulative nine-month gross margin to 38.8%. This positive trend was also reflected in EBIT and EBITDA, both of which showed similar year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter improvements, demonstrating our progress towards more profitable growth. Next slide, please. International operations maintained its strong sales volume performance as seen throughout the year, delivering a solid 16.1% growth in the third quarter and reaching 304 million unit cases. With this performance, nine-month cumulative sales volume reached 875 million unit cases, up by 14.1% year-on-year. The solid performance of international operations was primarily fueled by strong contributions from Central Asia and Iraq.
Despite ongoing geopolitical sensitivities in the Middle East, which continue to weigh on Jordan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, all these markets still delivered positive volume growth, where we remain agile and consumer-focused, proactively adapting to evolving demand patterns and emphasizing our localities. In international operations, net sales revenue increased by 13.8% year-on-year to TRY 27.8 billion, while net sales revenue per unit case was down by 2%. Without the impact of TAS 29, net sales revenue increase was 45.1% year-on-year, and net sales revenue per unit case improvement was 25% year-on-year. Amid ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and the continued negative impact of the Middle East conflict, price adjustments in our international markets were kept limited or implemented cautiously, in line with our commitment to affordability and supporting volume growth. Next slide, please.
Although July marked the peak season, operations in Pakistan were temporarily impacted by severe floods, which caused distribution disruptions for approximately one week. In response, we significantly increased our investment in trade promotions to support volume recovery. These efforts helped mitigate the short-term impact, particularly in a market already facing affordability challenges. Our sales volume in Pakistan increased by 0.7% year-on-year in the third quarter, reaching 76 million unit cases. Despite the natural disasters and rising political tensions during the year, cumulative volumes for the nine months of the year rose to 280 million unit cases, representing a 5.1% year-on-year growth. The overall operating environment remains fragile, largely due to sensitivity around ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. At the same time, local brands continued to invest aggressively in the market, intensifying competition.
Kazakhstan's sales volume reached 60 million unit cases in the third quarter, marking a remarkable 24.2% year-on-year growth. This robust quarterly performance brought the nine-month total to 174 million unit cases, reflecting a solid 17.4% increase compared to the same period last year. The still category remained a key growth driver, while the ongoing expansion of our on-premise customer base further contributed to volume momentum. Despite a deliberate reduction in trade promotions, we managed to achieve market share gains. Uzbekistan delivered an impressive 36.5% volume growth in the third quarter, building on the already strong 44.8% growth recorded in the second quarter. With this momentum, total sales volume reached 73 million unit cases in the third quarter. This strong performance was fueled by two key factors. One, a supportive macroeconomic environment, with all major indicators showing improvements compared to the previous year.
Our strong competitive execution enabled us to grow ahead of the industry. While all categories contributed to volume growth, Fuze Tea stood out with a remarkable performance, nearly tripling its sales volume in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, supported by the successful launch of new flavors. Iraq once again delivered solid volume growth of 7.8% year-on-year in the third quarter, reaching 42 million unit cases. This marks the 10th consecutive quarter of volume growth in the market, highlighting the consistency of our performance. This strong third-quarter performance was primarily driven by the success of Sprite Lemon Mint, which grew by 42.4% and made a significant contribution to the growth in the sparkling category. Now, I will leave the floor to Çiçek for the financial review.
Thank you, Karim, and thank you all for joining us today.
In the third quarter of 2025, we have delivered solid underlying momentum despite the dynamic and inflation-challenged consumer environment. Our net sales revenue increased by 6.7% year-on-year and was recorded as TRY 52.2 billion. NSR per UC declined by 2.1% year-on-year during the period. This was driven by international markets, while Türkiye actually delivered growth in NSR per UC, supported by price increases and a favorable mix impact. Despite local currency NSR per UC increase in international operations as well, reported figures were affected by TAS 29 hyperinflation adjustments. The average USD/TRY devaluation in the quarter remained below the inflation indexation coefficient, resulting in a translation-driven contraction in consolidated NSR per UC. Without inflation accounting, NSR and NSR per UC increase was 40% and 28%, respectively. Our commitment to affordability and right pricing, coupled with disciplined discount and mix management, was a key contributor to third-quarter performance.
Consolidated gross margin rose by 166 basis points to 38.1% in the third quarter. International operations saw a strong year-over-year increase of 311 basis points in gross margin. As Karim mentioned, in Türkiye, gross margin improved by 44 basis points thanks to effective pricing, normalized costs, and product mix optimization. Without the impact of inflation accounting, Türkiye's gross margin remained stable at 44.2% in the third quarter, bringing the cumulative nine-month gross margin to 38.8%. In international operations, pre-inflation accounting gross margin expansion was 264 basis points to 34.9%, supported by solid volume growth across almost all of our major markets and disciplined cost control measures. In the third quarter, our consolidated EBIT margin reached 18.8%, expanding by 125 basis points.
This performance is in line with the expected trend we mentioned in our earlier earnings calls and decreased the year-on-year nine-month EBIT margin contraction in the first nine months to 190 basis points from 380 basis points in the first half. Excluding TAS 29 accounting, third-quarter EBIT margin stood at 20.4%, up 91 basis points year-on-year, marking a remarkable improvement versus previous years. As we mentioned in our earlier webcasts, we have been reducing the FX share in our total borrowings. This strategy implies higher borrowing costs in local currency terms, obviously, but in exchange for lower foreign exchange loss risk. Nevertheless, the overall benefit is clearly visible at the net income level. This was evident in the third quarter as well, where we successfully decreased the total financial expenses.
Strict financial expense management, combined with improved profitability, supported our bottom line, resulting in a 4.2% year-on-year increase in net profit. It reached TRY 7.2 billion in the third quarter. This is despite a 45% decline in monetary gain compared to the third quarter of 2024, as inflation levels were lower compared to the prior year. Excluding TAS 29 accounting, net profit amounted to TRY 6.9 billion, up by 55.7% over last year. As we discussed, in the first quarter, we prioritized volume growth, which put some pressure on NSR. In the second quarter, we achieved a better balance, and in the third quarter, we found a much healthier volume-value balance, which helped us improve NSR and accordingly margins.
Although it is challenging to balance consumer demand with intensified competition from local brands, our RGM initiatives are helping us steadily advance toward a more profitable and resilient business model. While in full year, NSR per unit case may come in somewhat below our earlier expectations, posing a minor downside risk to the top line, we expect this to be largely offset by the improvement on the cost side. Overall, we continue to anticipate ending the year with an EBIT margin performance that can still be characterized, as Karim said, as slight contraction. This is without inflation accounting, and with inflation accounting, we are confident to deliver the initial margin guidance. Next slide, please.
On a per-unit-case basis, consolidated NSR is down by 2.1% in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of last year, while in Türkiye, NSR per UC grew by 1% in the quarter, as I mentioned. Consolidated NSR is also being negatively impacted by the currency translation effect, as the devaluation of Turkish lira is lower than the inflation adjustment. Without inflation accounting, NSR per UC reached TRY 115.8 in the third quarter, up by 28.1% year-on-year. In dollar terms, NSR per UC reached $2.8 in the third quarter. This is the highest among the third quarters of the last decade. With proactive contracts and timely hedges, our COGS per UC declined by 4.6% year-on-year in the third quarter, and accordingly, EBIT per UC is up by 4.9% to TRY 20.6.
Excluding the impact of TAS 29, our EBIT per unit case increased by 34.2% in the third quarter of 2025. Next slide, please. As always, we strive to maintain strong visibility over our cost base, which allows us to stay focused on revenue growth initiatives. In line with our proactive risk management approach, we continue to hedge and pre-buy Turkish Lira raw materials to mitigate cost volatility. For 2025, we have already secured nearly all of our raw material needs. In addition, we have started building our positions for 2026 and beyond, having hedged 39% of our resin, 35% of our aluminum, and 7% of our sugar requirements for 2026. We are taking advantage of the market dips, but leaving some room still to take advantage of any favorable moments in the market. These figures reflect our dynamic and market-sensitive approach, especially in an environment where visibility remains limited and volatility has increased.
In addition to raw materials, other cost components, such as labor and utilities, continue to shape our overall cost of goods sold. Given current market conditions, we remain confident in our hedge positions and coverage. Our disciplined approach continues without exception, and we actively monitor market opportunities carefully, leveraging favorable pricing windows to support long-term cost efficiency and margin stability. Next slide, please. Net profit for the third quarter was TRY 7.2 billion, up from TRY 6.9 billion in the same period of last year. As inflation levels were lower compared to the prior year, as we discussed, monetary gains declined by 44.9%, which limited net profit growth. Yet the bottom line was supported by improved operating profit and tight financial expense management, as I mentioned before. The share of hard currency-denominated debt in our total portfolio was flattish compared to last year.
However, some of the higher interest-rate Turkish lira borrowings were replaced with relatively lower-cost local currency debt in our other markets, which also does not create a fixed open position. I will elaborate more on this in the next slide. Therefore, we saw a decline in financial expenses. On to the next slide, please. As we always highlight, one of our key strengths is our tight financial discipline, which becomes even more important in times of increased volatility and invisibility. This enables resilience and agility. This quarter too, our balance sheet remains to be strong and flexible. As of the end of the third quarter, our net debt stood at $580 million, reflecting a significant improvement in our leverage profile. Our net debt-to-EBIT ratio declined to 0.8x compared to 1.4 x in the previous quarter.
This was the result of nearly TRY 5 billion of free cash flow generation in nine months. The free cash flow was positively impacted from movement in net working capital, improvement in working net working capital, besides improved profitability and lower interest costs. Just to elaborate further on free cash flow. It remains a top priority for us. Cash generation is obviously the ultimate measure of our business health, and it fuels growth, supports investments, and protects our balance sheet strength. Despite all the challenges in our operating markets, we achieved a significant improvement in working capital in the third quarter, which we are quite proud of. This was mainly driven by disciplined management across all components. Naturally, higher volumes helped collections and DSO performance, but as growth normalized in the fourth quarter, maintaining the same discipline will be a key.
Our capacity investments and improving line efficiencies also enabled tighter inventory management. On the payable side, we continue to extend payment terms in a sustainable manner without deteriorating our supplier relationships. As a result, we are delivering a structural improvement in working capital and free cash flow, and this will remain a key management focus going forward as well. While we recognize that quarterly CapEx phasing will work in the opposite direction in the fourth quarter, we still target a positive full-year free cash flow. As of September 30, 2025, 54% of our consolidated financial debt is in US dollars, 5% in euros, and the remaining 41% is in local currencies, including Turkish lira. While our lower FX exposure has naturally led to higher interest expenses, the overall cost of funding has improved meaningfully over the past three years.
When factoring in the depreciation of local currencies against hard currencies, our funding strategy has delivered significant progress in reducing total financial costs. Moreover, our diversification strategy extends beyond Turkish lira to include Uzbek som, Pakistani rupee, Kazakhstani tenge, and Azerbaijani manat. This is the beauty of our diversified footprint. This is what I explained in the previous slide when I was talking about the improvement in financial expenses. We have a short FX position after net investment hedge at $44 million. Before net investment hedge, which I always like to highlight, $401 million. We consistently monitor our short position by benchmarking it against our international EBITDA, ensuring it remains within prudent and manageable levels. Right now, it is at a comfortable level for us.
The reason for benchmarking it against international EBITDA is that we repatriate hard currency dividends from international operations and use this to serve our FX liabilities. Looking ahead to 2025, the majority of our scheduled debt repayments consist of local currency loans or the short-term portion of long-term facilities. We do not anticipate any refinancing risk within this context. Now, back to Karim for his closing remarks.
Thank you, Çiçek. Now, we will be happy to answer your questions. Dear closing agent, over to you, please.
Thank you. We will now move to the question and answer section. If you would like to ask a question, please press star two on your phone and wait to be prompted. If you are dialed in by the web, you can type your question in the box provided or request to ask a voice question.
We'll just wait a moment or two for the questions to come in. Okay. Our first voice question comes from Ece Mandaci from Ak Investment. Ece, please go ahead. Your line is now open.
Hello. Yeah. Can you hear me?
Yes, yes. We can hear you. Please go ahead.
Okay. Great. Thank you very much for the presentation. You have delivered very strong results. Congratulations on that. I have two questions. One is regarding the EBIT margin generation and secondly about the working capital improvement. Firstly, you delivered strong growth in international EBIT margin, and we have also seen increase on an EBIT per USD basis or revenue per USD unit-case basis improvement as well, double-digit improvement. Would it be.
Fair to assume that this was mostly driven by the regional mix, maybe higher revenue share of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and higher volume contribution from those regions, and secondly, the price adjustment in Kazakhstan, and that also resulted in a better margin? Could we assume like that? How sustainable is the current high 23%-24% EBIT margin levels for this business in seasonally high quarters, peak quarters? Will this be sustainable for 2026 as well, and how can this be achieved? This is my first question. Secondly, you delivered strong working capital improvement in the third quarter, and in all metrics, we have seen improvements under working capital on a Q- on- Q basis. On a country-wise analysis, where do you really see the most working capital improvement? Do the new capacity additions contribute to that?
Is this working capital sales level sustainable for the coming quarters? What should we assume on that front? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Ece, for your questions. Let me start, and if Karim wants to elaborate, he can also jump in. On margin expansion, you're right. Geographical mix also had a positive impact. As you know, Central Asia usually tends to have a higher margin. In the third quarter, we have also seen, as you know, expansion in Türkiye as well. It was a more balanced, I would say, contribution. Central Asia's impact on the total EBITDA has increased, and that helps from a geographical mix point of view. In terms of 2026 guidance, I mean, it is too early for us to comment on it. We are right now actually in the business planning cycle. This will be.
There will be certain iterations of it, and then we will be able to present to our board in December, and then we will be able to give guidance to the investor community probably when we announce our full-year results. It is very early to say anything on 2026, but our direction remains the same. We aspire to create lasting value, and this lasting value comes from maintaining or expanding our margins. Next year, we will be continuing to focus on growing volumes and also making sure that our margins either stay stable or improve. As I said, it is too early to comment on that, so I will not be able to answer it in more detail in terms of 2026. When it comes to working capital, yes, you are right. We have achieved improvement in all levers of working capital, and main improvements are coming from.
Actually, inventory days. There has been significant improvement in inventory. As you rightly pointed out, increased capacity has also helped from this perspective. That limited the requirement to build up stock for the season with the increased capacity. Also, our line efficiency has been improving. This is one of the main KPIs of our supply chain team, and line efficiencies are increasing. That is also helping with the inventory management as well. There has been a very—I have to be very frank—there has been a very, very strict follow-up on the inventory days, along with all other levers of networking capital. This is not a coincidence. It was the result of very hard work by all teams. This is coming from contribution from all countries, but especially from Türkiye and Uzbekistan, I have to say. The main improvement has come from these.
Countries in terms of networking capital. I hope this answers your question.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next voice question comes from Hanzade from JP Morgan. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.
Hello. Thank you very much for the presentation, and congratulations for the strong performance. I have two questions. The first one, I really appreciate that you still work on 2026 budget, but I wanted to ask about your current experience in the market and whether you see any opportunity to gradually phase out the discount management in Türkiye, particularly, so that NSR per unit case may start growing in line with the inflation next year. Do you see any room for this at the moment? Second, I think this was asked by the previous. I mean, I think it's already asked, but I didn't receive the answer.
Have you done any price increases in Central Asia, and do you see room to grow further in Kazakhstan, which has been performing strongly recently and penetration rates are relatively high compared to other markets? Thank you.
Hanzade, thank you for the questions, and thank you for the positive note. On your first question. You know that we manage the business in a very dynamic manner, right? We look at context, and context translates into inflation, and inflation translates into cost increase. On one side, we look at what is the cost of goods sold per unit case going to be. On the other side, we look at what is the food and beverage inflation going to be. As a methodology, and that is valid for Türkiye, but for all our operations, as a methodology, we want to be.
Managing our revenue per unit case and increase our revenue per unit case above cost of goods sold increase, cost of goods sold per unit case increase, and right behind food and beverage inflation. So that on one side, we make sure that margins are protected. On the other side, we ensure that we are relatively affordable versus other food and beverage categories. When it comes to what do we see in the market right now, if you look at Türkiye, for example. Food and beverage inflation, last 12 months trading is approximately 35%. Right? In the narrative earlier on our numbers, you see that our net sales revenue per unit case was roughly around that. And the cost of goods sold was actually not too far from that. All in all, it is all managing, again, two things. One is affordability, creating the right volume.
On the other side, managing to protect margins. What we see in the market right now: volume overall. In Türkiye, for example, in the fourth quarter, is going to cycle a very high base. I'm going to take you back in history. Last year, in the fourth quarter of 2024, we said we need to regain volume. That was mission-critical. We did. As a result of that, we actually expanded a lot the deductions from revenue to support the trade. We have done that deliberately. That was a choice. We continued actually in the first quarter of 2025. All this to say that what we see in the market right now is overall, from an economic standpoint, as I mentioned, inflation still remains in the 35% overall. That's number one, which puts pressure on consumers as it has eroded purchasing power.
You actually can see overall in September that the category FMCG overall, NARTD also are not really growing in volume. That is basically the current context for Türkiye. Within this context, we manage discounts to create the right revenue per unit case so that we can, again, cover cost increase, but always aspire to remain right behind food and beverage inflation. This is how we see the end of the year right now. How it will look like in 2026, as Çiçek mentioned earlier, we are right now in the planning cycle for all our markets. It is fair to assume that context is going to continue to remain challenging. It is also fair to assume that we will continue with the same methodology in terms of creating net revenue per unit case.
Above cost of goods sold per unit case to protect margins, but right behind food and beverage inflation. Your second question regarding Kazakhstan. In 2025, we actually took two price increases. One was in February, one was in September. Overall average portfolio, 10% price increase. Inflation in the local market was or is around 10%. Again, the cost of goods sold overall and the cost has been increasing by approximately 10%. Overall, again, pretty much the same methodology as what I described for Türkiye. Within your second question, there was another sub-question about how much more we can grow in Kazakhstan. We have opportunity in Kazakhstan. Clearly, that is the reason why we opened a new greenfield in the market. We said we have to regionalize the opportunity. We have to capture the opportunity. We see that the market is responding well to that.
The big learning out of 2025 comes from the fact that we have launched innovations in Kazakhstan. We have expanded the portfolio in flavor sparkling. We have expanded the portfolio in Fuze Tea with new flavors. That has really created an entire momentum where we managed to grow faster than the industry. We managed to gain share. We managed to solidify volume growth. Because these are very profitable categories, also, increment margins. We want to continue doing that in the future.
Thank you, Karim. That is very clear. Regarding the NSR per unit case in Türkiye, you have started slow this year, but you catch up in the third quarter and probably will be also in line in the fourth quarter. Going into 2026, we will never experience the first soft performance of this year, right? I mean, you have done your adjustments now.
NSR per unit case should follow the inflation trend.
Yeah. I mean, rationally, that would be the year to continue implementing the methodology I described. To be right in the bandwidth behind food and beverage inflation and above cost of goods sold or cost inflation overall. Again, 2025 and end of 2024 were exceptional in the sense that we needed to regain volume in Türkiye. Now, if you look at our volume trajectory in Türkiye, year to date, we're declining slightly. If you look at the split, sparkling is growing, led by Coca-Cola trademark. Still is growing faster, right? Excluding water, we are in positive territories. We're growing actually approximately 3% excluding water. Water volume decline is a deliberate choice because we need to focus on value creation, sustainable volume growth. That, for us, means that we need to.
Be less dependent upon big volume water contribution.
Thank you, Karim.
Thank you, Hanzadeh.
Thank you. Thank you very much. We'll now move to the next voice question that comes from Max Nekrasov from Citi. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.
Yes. Good afternoon. Thank you for the presentation and congratulations with quite impressive results. I have a few questions just to follow up on the fourth quarter. I wonder if you can share maybe some of the trends you've observed over the last month compared to the third quarter, if there's any change in the momentum in any of the markets. Also regarding the margin into the fourth quarter. As was mentioned before, right, we saw a pretty soft margin in the fourth quarter last year, right? It creates a supportive base.
Do you think, considering the improvements that have been done and the more kind of balanced growth, we could reach the levels of basically two years ago of fourth quarter 2023 in terms of margins this year? Yeah. I have also a couple more questions, but maybe we should take one by one. Thank you.
I am looking at the margins from two years ago to be sure that I can answer your question properly. Let me first answer or address your first question on what do we see in the market in terms of momentum. As I mentioned just earlier with our colleague Hanzade, there is softness in the fourth quarter, right, in terms of volume growth. If you look at our two largest markets, Türkiye and Pakistan, together, they constitute approximately two-thirds of the business. In Türkiye, again.
35% approximately food and beverage inflation, last 12 months trading, and there was no salary increase in the economy in the second half of 2025. The combination of those two factors has basically created pressure on consumers as their purchasing power has been eroded. As a consequence, you actually see in the market overall that FMCG in Türkiye right now, in terms of volume or in terms of unit growth, is actually not showing growth right now. As FMCG is not showing growth right now, and NARTD, so non-alcoholic ready-to-drink, is not showing growth right now. That's a trend that we see that is really shaping what we are doing in Türkiye. Now, Pakistan, on the other side, the work is being done to create a more sustainable economy, right? But it means that there is, again.
A lot of work being done on tax collections, a lot of work being done on the macroeconomic front locally. The fact is that between 2020 and 2025, actually, disposable income has not moved. If you look at the statistics, it's pretty much the same disposable income over five years, when at the same time, inflation or cumulative impact of inflation has caused consumer goods to increase approximately prices by 100%, so 2x, right? Again, in Pakistan, consumers are being squeezed between inflation and the cost of living every day. On the other side, the lack of disposable income or salary increase, that, in essence, has created a poverty rate that has reached now 45% in the country, right, which is putting pressure on our business. Now, as leaders, we focus on what we can control. What we can control is how do we.
Go to the market, what do we do with the trade, what do we offer consumers. On that front, what we do right now is we focus again on affordability, right? In Pakistan, in 2025, until now, we have not taken price, right? We manage trade discounts to our distributors and customers in the best way to ensure that we can have the right finances. Overall, Pakistan is going through difficult times in terms of consumer goods. That is the current trajectory for our two largest markets. On the other side, Central Asia and Iraq are more stable, relatively speaking. That is why you actually see that there is sustained growth there and that there is also sustained margin creation there. Hopefully, I answered your first question on what do we see in the market right now.
Regarding your detailed question about 2024 margin level. The 2024 full-year margin level, that was what, like 16.3%, right, full year, right? We guided towards slight dilution, and we are still within the range of this slight dilution versus the 16.3%. That is why we are confident in our guidance.
Understood. Thank you. Just on the balance sheet, I just wanted to follow up to the previous questions. In terms of very strong free cash flow and working capital improvements in the third quarter, should we expect some maybe normalization towards the year-end, or do you see current levels of leverage and net debt in absolute terms as sustainable until the end of the year?
Thank you, Maxim. Thanks for asking this question. Yes, we want to highlight that because, yes, third-quarter performance was exceptionally good.
There is some significant progress that was made, as I mentioned, from working capital, which is sustainable and will continue towards the end of the year and going forward as well. Of course, one component of working capital is coming from receivables, and volumes grow significantly. That really supports. As Karim was also explaining, and as you can sense from our tone as well, for the remaining of the year, fourth quarter, in terms of volume growth, we will see a deceleration in terms of growth year-on-year compared to the first nine months' performance, still delivering or maybe even achieving our volume for the full-year guidance. Fourth quarter, we will see a deceleration in the volume, and that might impact the DSO days slightly. Other than that, on working capital side, we are quite committed to continue with making sure that the progress continues, except for certain.
Unsustainable, like receivables of taxes, etc., that came in in the third quarter that helped the working capital. That will obviously not continue, but the other sustainable factors of the core working capital will continue. In terms of the trajectory of the free cash flow for the full year, as I mentioned during my presentation as well, we are committed to still delivering a positive full-year free cash flow, but there has been some phasing of CapEx from third quarter to fourth quarter. The fourth quarter free cash flow generation will not be as strong as the third quarter. We have to just make the expectations realistic from that perspective. Having said that, we do not expect significant deterioration in our net debt to EBITDA position. We still expect to end the year with around one times or less, so not exceeding one times.
That's our current expectation and aspiration, I have to say.
Understood. Yeah. Thank you so much, Çiçek. And Karim, that's very clear. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Before we move to the next question, just a quick reminder to the audience. If you are connected via the phone and you would like to ask a voice question, please press star two on your phone keypad and wait for your name to be prompted. If you are connected via the web, you can also request to ask a voice question or send your question as a text. We have received a text question from Bartu Çolak from Istanbul Portföy. How would you see your net debt EBITDA level at the end of 2026?
Thank you, Bartu, for the question. We have a general policy of maintaining our net debt to EBITDA below 2x .
Although there is no covenant at this level. As management, we do not feel comfortable exceeding 2x given that we are operating in emerging markets, so we have to be flexible on the balance sheet. That is the upper target. For the floor, we actually do not have a floor, so we can go to even net cash position if that is required. That is our general policy. When it comes to our expectations for 2026, obviously, it will depend on how the EBITDA outlook will be. As I said, we will not be able to give any guidance on our EBITDA or free cash flow generation for next year. As I said again during my presentation, free cash flow is and will continue to be a priority for us. Therefore, we still will generate positive free cash flow next year. As a result.
We should see deleveraging on the portfolio in the absence of any acquisitions. That could be the outlook I can give without giving too much guidance on 2026. I hope it helps.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Maybe just a final reminder for the audience. If you're connected via the phone and would like to ask a voice question, please press star two on your phone keypad and wait for your name to be prompted. If you are connected via the web, you can also request to ask a voice question or send your question as a text. I'll just give a moment or so for any additional questions to come in.
Okay. Thank you for today's call. You have our commitment that we will do everything to deliver our guidance. Thank you for your interest. We're looking forward to seeing you soon.
We have our Capital Markets Day. That is scheduled for the 14th of November in Istanbul physically, where Çiçek and I will be happy to host you. If you want to attend, please contact our team. We are looking forward to seeing you soon. Thank you for your interest, and thank you. Have a great day today.
Thank you. Bye.
Thank you. This concludes today's call. We are now closing all the lines.