Coca-Cola Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, as growth in markets such as India and China helped offset the impact of the stronger U.S. dollar.

The world's largest soft-drink maker earned $2.04 billion, or 88 cents per share, in the second quarter, ended July 3, compared with $1.42 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, profit fell 9 percent to 92 cents per share, topping analysts' average forecast of 89 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Coke's shares rose more than 1 percent in premarket trade before retreating, falling 13 cents to $50.90.

Operating revenue fell 9 percent to $8.27 billion, hurt by the stronger U.S. dollar which reduced the value of international sales. Sales by volume rose 4 percent.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola's broad geographic footprint, especially in developing markets such as India and China, has helped it weather an industry-wide slowdown in the United States. Coke gets the bulk of its revenue from abroad, where soft-drink sales are still growing despite the weak global economy.

Volume fell 1 percent in North America but rose 5 percent internationally. Volume jumped 33 percent in India and 14 percent in China. International sales growth overall had been in the 5-percent-to-7-percent range last year.

The future of Coke's North American business model, through which it sells drink concentrate to a network of independent bottlers that in turn bottle and distribute the drinks, has been called into question after rival PepsiCo Inc launched a takeover bid for its two biggest bottlers.

We believe our unique global franchise model is the best way to win in the market, Coke Chief Executive Muhtar Kent said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kent has several times defended the company's franchise model, but analysts have said that if PepsiCo succeeds in its bid, Coke may have to follow suit to erase what would likely be a large competitive disadvantage.

Coke does not provide specific earnings forecasts, but said in April it was looking to reach its long-term target of 3-percent-to-4-percent volume growth and high single-digit earnings-per-share growth this year.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl; Editing by Maureen Bavdek and Brian Moss)

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