PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) reported fairly strong first-quarter earnings before opening bell this morning. The company’s organic revenue grew 4.4 percent, while its reported net revenue jumped 1 percent. Pepsi’s core earnings per share was 77 cents and reported earnings per share was 69 cents. The company’s core earnings per share excludes a 7-cent per share impact due to the devaluation of the company’s net monetary assets in Venezuela.
A consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg was earnings per share of 70 cents on $12.6 billion in revenue. The company said its net revenue was negatively impacted by structural changes, mostly re-franchising in China.
Pepsi’s Americas Foods division saw 6 percent growth in its organic revenue as all divisions posted growth, including Frito-Lay North America, Latin America Foods and Quaker Foods North America. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)’s Frito-Lay North America division saw its market share increase through a 4 percent volume growth.
“We are greatly encouraged by the strong start to 2013,” said Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi in a statement. “We delivered solid organic revenue growth and double-digit core EPS growth in the first quarter, driven by our balanced food and beverage product and global geographic portfolio.”
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) said it plans to return about $6.4 billion to shareholders this year through share buybacks and dividends. It also affirmed its previous guidance for the year, including 7 percent core constant currency earnings per share growth. The company is expecting low single-digit commodity inflation and $900 million in productivity savings.
As of the moment of this writing, shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) were up 1.59 percent in pre-market trading.
