Pepsi Bottling Blows the Lid Off 3Q Earnings

SOMERS. N.Y. (TheStreet) -- Pepsi's(PEP Quote) purchase of Pepsi Bottling Group(PBG Quote) is looking like a better idea by the day.

The bottler posted a 10% jump in its third quarter, earning $254 million, or $1.14 a share. This compares with a profit of $231 million, or $1.06 a share, in the year-ago period.

High Times

The quarter included $17 million, or 8 cents per share, for a favorable tax audit settlement and some other items.

Analysts expected the company to earn $1.05 a share.

Sales slipped 5% to $3.63 billion from $3.81 billion.

Looking ahead, Pepsi Bottling forecasts full-year earnings at the high end of its projected range of $2.30 to $2.40 per share.

On Monday, Pepsi announced the creation of a new bottling unit called PepsiCo Bottling North America, which will merge Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas(PAS Quote). The new division will be led by Eric J. Foss, chairman and CEO of Pepsi Bottling.

In August the soft-drink maker said it would finally buy the two bottlers in a deal worth $7.8 billion.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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