Boston, MA 02/13/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Global food and beverage company PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) Q4, Inc. has posted impressive fourth quarter results that beat consensus estimates and also announced plans of increasing shareholders returns by 35% in the current fiscal year. During the posting of the results the company said it won’t be pressurized to split its beverages from foods segments as earlier proposed by an activist investor.
PepsiCo maintains that keeping its two entities Frito-Lay, Gatorade and Quaker Oats together is its main goal at the moment,to try and safeguard interests of its shareholders. There has been mounting pressure in the recent past from Peltz who owns less than 1% of PepsiCo to split the company due to its drinks lagging in performance the US Markets.
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) in its conference call maintains it is on track to meet its target for the current fiscal year having been buoyed by the fourth quarter results. PepsiCo organic revenue for the fourth quarter grew by 4.1% as a result of effective pricing strategy by the company, the net revenue on the other hand grew by 1%. Refranchising in Vietnam had a substantial effect on the company’s net revenue performance by 1%.
PepsiCo earnings
PepsiCo recorded earnings of $1.74 billion for the fourth quarter or $0.12 a share which was an improvement compared to earnings per share of $1.06 or earnings of $1.66 billion. Excluding special items, the company earnings came in at $1.63 billion or $1.05 a share.
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) revenues for the fourth quarter was slightly below that of consensus estimate as it came in at $20.12 against the projected $20.16. Going forward PepsiCo expects to see earnings increase by 7% that should see the revenues clock $4.37 billion.
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) chief executive officer was buoyed by the results as she was quoted as saying “We are encouraged with the progress we made in North American beverages with a category that remains challenged”. The CEO maintains the company will continue to engage in cost cutting measures aimed at ensuring the beverage sector of the company’s performs better in the coming quarters.
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) Q4 intends to reduce its expenses by $5 billion over the coming five years starting 2015 a move that should enable the company improve its profit margins. PepsiCo,core constant currency operating profits for the fourth quarter improved by 1% due to the impact of revenue growth and savings in production.
