PepsiCo posted a higher quarterly profit that met Wall Street expectations, helped by brisk sales in international markets such as India, while drinks volumes declined in North America.
The maker of Pepsi-Cola drinks and Frito-Lay snacks stood by its forecast for earnings growth of 11-13 per cent for the year, and said it still hopes to complete its $7.8 billion acquisition of its two largest bottlers by the end of the month.
Coca-Cola Co also cited strong demand in emerging markets such as China and India when it reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales earlier this week.
PepsiCo, the world's second largest soft drink maker after Coca-Cola, earned $1.43 billion, or 90 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $719 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier.
On a core basis, which excludes items such as restructuring and merger costs, profit rose to $1.42 billion, or 90 cents per share, from $1.39 billion, or 88 cents per share.
Revenue rose 4.5 per cent to $13.3 billion.
Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 90 cents per share on revenue of $13.26 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Across the company's portfolio, the total volume of snacks sold rose 1 per cent, while beverage volume fell 1 per cent. Volume fell 5 per cent in the North American beverage business and was flat in its Americas food unit, driven by a flat quarter at Frito-Lay North America, a 2 per cent decrease at Quaker Foods North America, and a flat performance in its Latin American food business.
Volume in its international division rose 4 per cent in snacks and 3 per cent in beverages. In Europe, volume fell 3 per cent in snacks and was flat in beverages. In the unit covering Asia, Africa and the Middle East, snack volume soared 13 per cent and beverage volume rose 5 per cent, due in part to strong growth in India.
PepsiCo, which also owns Tropicana, Quaker and Gatorade, stood by its 2010 forecast for earnings growth of 11 per cent to 13 per cent, excluding one-time items.
The company said it plans to record a first-quarter charge of about $125 million related to the devaluation of the Venezuelan bolivar. It said core earnings per share, in constant currencies, would not be impacted.
PepsiCo launched a takeover bid for Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas in April and struck a deal in August after sweetening its offer.
The bottlers' shareholders are set to vote on the deal February 17th. PepsiCo aims to improve its North American operations through the acquisitions, by reducing costs and removing inherent tensions between PepsiCo and the bottlers, which currently count PepsiCo as both a shareholder and supplier.
Shares of PepsiCo rose 1.4 per cent to $61.23 in early trading.
Reuters