During the fourth quarter of 2007, the Company decided to replace a certain amount of commercial paper and short-term debt with longer-term debt. Refer to Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company continues to review its optimal mix of short- term and long-term debt. We may replace a certain amount of commercial paper and short-term debt with longer term debt in the future. The payments of debt in 2007 primarily included approximately $5,514 million related to commercial paper and short-term debt with maturities of greater than 90 days. Included in these payments was the payment of the outstanding liability to CCEAG shareowners in January 2007 of $1,068 million. 

The issuances of debt in 2006 primarily included approximately $484 million of issuances of commercial paper and short-term debt with maturities of greater than

90 days. The payments of debt in 2006 primarily included approximately $580 million related to commercial paper and short-term debt with maturities of greater than 90 days and approximately $1,383 million of net repayments of commercial paper and short-term debt with maturities of 90 days or less. 

The issuances of debt in 2005 primarily included approximately $144 million of issuances of commercial paper with maturities of 90 days or more. The payments of debt primarily included approximately $1,037 million related to net repayments of commercial paper with maturities of less than 90 days, repayments of commercial paper with maturities greater than 90 days of approximately $32 million and repayment of approximately $1,363 million of long-term debt. 

Issuances of Stock 

The issuances of stock in 2007 primarily related to the exercise of stock options by Company employees. In addition, certain executive officers and former shareholders of glacéau invested approximately $179 million of their proceeds from the sale of glacéau in common stock of the Company at then current market prices. These shares of Company common stock were placed in escrow pursuant to the glacéau acquisition agreement. 

Share Repurchases 

In October 1996, our Board of Directors authorized a plan (“1996 Plan”) to repurchase up to 206 million shares of our Company’s common stock through 2006. On July 20, 2006, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized a new share repurchase program of up to 300 million shares of the Company’s common stock. The new program took effect upon the expiration of the 1996 Plan on October 31, 2006. The table below presents annual shares repurchased and average price per share: 

Since the inception of our initial share repurchase program in 1984 through our current program as of December 31, 2007, we have purchased approximately 1.3 billion shares of our Company’s common stock at an average price per share of $18.45. 

As strong cash flows are expected to continue in the future, the Company currently expects 2008 share repurchases to be in the range of $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion. 

Dividends 

At its February 2008 meeting, our Board of Directors increased our quarterly dividend by 12 percent, raising it to $0.38 per share, equivalent to a full-year dividend of 

$1.52 per share in 2008.