As of this writing, shares of PepsiCo were up 1.85% to $99.80 per share in premarket trading
PepsiCo posted its fourth quarter earnings report before opening bell this morning, posting earnings of $1.12 per share, excluding restructuring charges, on revenue of $19.95 billion, a 1% year over year decline. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.08 per share on $19.66 billion in revenue.
Key metrics from PepsiCo’s earnings report
Reported earnings were 87 cents per share or $1.31 billion, compared to the previous year’s earnings of $1.12 per share or $1.74 billion in profits. Organic revenue improved by 4% in the fourth quarter and 4% for the full year. For the full year, PepsiCo posted core earnings of $4.63 per share and reported earnings of $4.27 per share.
The company reported 2% volume growth in both snacks and beverages. Carbonated soft drink volume fell 2% in North America but was more than offset by a 4% growth in non-carbonated drinks in the region.
Organic revenue from developing and emerging markets increased 10%, while reported revenue from these markets fell 4% due to unfavorable foreign exchange rates, especially in Russia and Venezuela.
The beverage and snack maker reported a 3.5% improvement in organic revenue for Frito-Lay North America and flat revenue in its Quaker Foods North America segment. PepsiCo saw an 11% increase in organic revenue from its Latin America Foods division in the fourth quarter and a 3% increase in PepsiCo Americas Beverages. In Europe, the company posted a 6% growth rate in organic revenue, while in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, PepsiCo saw a 7% increase in organic revenue.
PepsiCo reported guidance
The company expects to see a 7% increase in core constant currency earnings per share for the full year. PepsiCo projects organic revenue growth in the mid-single digits and commodity inflation in the low single digits.
This year PepsiCo expects to return between $8.5 billion and $9 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. The beverage and snack maker increased its annualized dividend 7.3% to $2.81 per share, which takes effect with the June dividend. The company’s board also approved share repurchases of up to $12 billion starting on July 1 and running through Jun 30, 2018.
