PepsiCo Profit Rises as International Sales Gain, Costs Decline
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Food & Beverage | 
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10/08/09(Bloomberg) — PepsiCo Inc., the world’s largest snack maker, said third-quarter profit rose 8.9 percent on higher international sales and lower production and administrative expenses.
Net income increased to $1.72 billion, or $1.09 a share, from $1.58 billion, or 99 cents, a year earlier, Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo said today in a statement. Excluding some items, profit was $1.08 a share, exceeding the $1.03 average of 10 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
PepsiCo’s food sales overseas and in North America helped counter flagging beverage sales in the U.S. as consumers drank more tap water to save money. The company is working to bolster efficiency and productivity, and said it expects to see some expenses curbed further in 2010.
PepsiCo, also the world’s second-largest soft-drink maker, declined $1.03, or 1.7 percent, to $60.14 at 10:12 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock had climbed 12 percent this year before today, compared with a 21 percent advance for Coca-Cola Co., the biggest soda-maker.
PepsiCo International posted a 13 percent increase in revenue, helped by acquisitions in Europe. Sales for the company, which makes Frito-Lay snacks and Gatorade sports drinks, declined 1.5 percent to $11.1 billion.
Production costs fell 1.7 percent in the quarter while selling and administrative expenses dropped 8.1 percent.
PepsiCo said it anticipates earnings-per-share growth of 11 percent to 13 percent in 2010, helped by the pending acquisition of its two largest soft-drink distributors. The company reiterated its forecast of a “mid- to high-single-digit” percentage gain in earnings this year. The targets exclude some costs and foreign-currency effects.
