The Coca-Cola company, the world's largest soft-drink maker, posted strong earnings in the first quarter of 2012, driven by increasing sales in homeland market.

The profit climbed by 7.9 percent to 2.05 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter from a year earlier, with earnings per share (EPS) rising to 0.82 dollars, better than analysts' estimate, the company announced on Tuesday in a financial report.

The company's revenue in the quarter reached 11.1 billion dollars, up 5.9 percent from the same period of 2010, reflecting strong global volume growth.

To attract price-conscious consumers as part of an effort to spur sales in North America, where the soft drink industry is in a seven-year decline, Coca-Cola introduced smaller package sizes, pushing beverage sales volumes in this region up 2 percent.