NEW YORK, United States — Coca-Cola Co’s third-quarter net income rose 8.4 per cent as it sold more of its soft drinks and juices around the world and US sales extended their rebound.

The second consecutive quarter of improvements in its North American drinks business is encouraging news for Coca-Cola after four years of declines. The company also raised the value of shares it expects to buy back this year to US$2 billion from US$1.5 billion.

The world’s largest soft drink maker said Tuesday it earned US$2.06 billion or 88 cents per share in the three months ending October 1, up from US$1.9 billion or 81 cents per share last year. Excluding one-time items related to restructuring, the company earned 92 cents per share.

Revenue rose 4.7 per cent to US$8.43 billion.

Analysts expected the company to earn 89 cents per share on revenue of US$8.3 billion in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. Their estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Shares fell two cents to US$59.98, just shy of the 52-week high of US$60 the stock set on Monday.

Beverage volume in North America rose two per cent. Worldwide, the figure rose 5 percent.

The soft drink industry has been hurting in the US and other developed countries as shoppers limit their purchases in the weak economy. Shoppers are also turning to juices and teas for health reasons.

The company saw no gains in the amount of soft drinks it sold in North America, but it also saw no declines. Coca-Cola Zero posted double-digit volume growth, and Sprite and Fanta were also top performers.

Sales of juices and teas rose again, as the Atlanta-based company sold eight per cent more in the quarter. Powerade’s sales volume rose 32 per cent and Simply juices rose 23 per cent.

The company has been working for several years to improve its North American business, CEO Muhtar Kent told investors on a conference call.

“In no way are we declaring victory,” he said. “We’re in the process of stabilizing.”

The improvements in North America are good for Coca-Cola, but still the bulk of its revenue — some three-quarters — comes from abroad, and that’s where the company is focusing.

Volume in Europe was flat, although France, the Nordic region and Great Britain, among other regions, showed gains. Eurasia and Africa and the Pacific’s volume grew at least 11 per cent.

Latin American volume grew four per cent, on top of a seven per cent jump last year in the quarter.

Coca-Cola has been investing to expand its presence in emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India and elsewhere to hook shoppers as they earn more money to spend on discretionary purchases, such as soft drinks. Again, those emerging markets were among the company’s fastest-growing. China’s volume grew 12 per cent in the quarter, while Brazil’s volume grew 13 per cent and Russia’s grew 30 per cent.

The Coca-Cola brand’s volume rose four per cent around the world, making it the fastest-growing among the company’s brands globally.

Coca-Cola said its integration of the North American operations of bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises is on track and the company expects to save at least US$350 million per year, phased in over the next four years. The company bought the operations earlier this year so it could better control distribution and be quicker to market with products — both key as the company keeps up with people’s changing tastes. The deal closed earlier this month. Rival PepsicCo Inc. has made similar moves.