PepsiCo Misses, Guides In-Line

The soft drink giant's profit jumps almost 30% in the fourth quarter.

Author:: TSC Staff
Publish date:: Feb 5, 2004 8:04 AM EST

PepsiCo

Thursday reported higher fourth- quarter profit but missed analysts' expectations by a penny.

The company earned $897 million, or 51 cents a share, on revenue of $8.07 billion, compared with $689 million, or 39 cents a share, on revenue of $7.38 billion a year ago. The Thomson First Call consensus estimate was 52 cents a share.

The fourth-quarter results include an expense for stock options of 6 cents a share.

The company said cost reductions relating to its acquisition of Quaker added 12 percentage points to earnings per share in the quarter.

PepsiCo also had a $147 million charge for restructuring operations, worth 6 cents a share.

For 2004, the company held to its earnings forecast of $2.24 to $2.28 a share, versus a consensus forecast of $2.28 a share. PepsiCo also expects operating cash flow, after net capital expenditures, to exceed 10% growth.