PepsiCo 3Q earnings fall 5 percent

PepsiCo Inc. reported third quarter earnings and revenues each fell 5 percent compared to a year ago, as the Purchase company’s Americas beverages unit saw sales slip considerably.

Earnings for the 12 weeks ending Sept. 8 were $1.9 billion, or $1.21 a share, compared to earnings of $2 billion, or $1.25 a share, for the 12 weeks ending Sept. 3, 2011.

The data topped market projections, with analysts polled by Thomson Reuters having forecast a third quarter profit of $1.16 a share.

Revenues fell to $16.7 billion from $17.6 billion in the third quarter of 2011, which PepsiCo attributed to previously announced refranchisings in China and Mexico and to a negative 5-percentage-point hit incurred from foreign exchange translation.

The company said organic net revenue growth, excluding the latter two impacts, was 5 percent during the third quarter.

The company’s Americas foods unit saw revenues increase 2.5 percent to $5.8 billion in the third quarter, while PepsiCo’s Americas beverages unit experienced a 7 percent decline in revenues, from $5.9 billion a year ago to $5.5 billion for the third quarter of 2012.