Coca-Cola may buy back $13.2 billion in stock

Coca-Cola Co. , the world's biggest soft-drink maker, may buy

back as much as $13.2 billion of its stock

, representing 13 percent of outstanding shares. The company's

board Thursday

authorized the repurchase of as many as 300 million shares beginning Oct. 31, when an earlier

buyback plan expires, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said Thursday in a statement.

The purchases reflect the board's "continued confidence in the company's future performance

and our long-term cash-flow generation," Chief Executive Officer Neville Isdell said in the

statement.