PepsiCo (IW 500/18) released its earnings report Wednesday, detailing a decline in revenue, but still coming in above Wall Street estimates on strong sales of its snack foods.
The company reported revenue of $19.95 billion, down 1% year over year. Profits were $1.31 billion, a drop from $1.74 billion in 2013. Unfavorable foreign exchange rates are blamed for knocking down revenue by six percentage points.
The Frito-Lay division helped prop up sagging sales of carbonated soft drinks and other food entities. Revenue at Frito-Lay North America grew 3%, helping offset a drop in revenue at Quaker of 3% in the U.S. and 10% in Europe.
Pepsi said it would increase the annual dividend to 7.3% and also laid out a plan to spend as much as $9 billion on stock buybacks and dividends for 2015.
At the same time, it predicted a cut in revenue and per-share earnings for the upcoming year based on the devaluation of foreign currency.
On Tuesday, rival Coca-Cola reported a profit loss of 55%, blaming it on the low exchange rate for foreign money and one-time charges.
Both companies predict a challenging year ahead in 2015.
