PepsiCo second-quarter profit tops Wall Street view

By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday, as the food and beverage maker benefited from strong international demand, acquisitions and the weak U.S. dollar.

The maker of Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay snacks and Quaker Oatmeal, whose shares were unchanged in morning trade, also affirmed its full-year earnings outlook and raised its target for share buybacks.

PepsiCo said net income rose 9 percent to $1.7 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the second quarter that ended June 14, from $1.56 billion, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding gains in the value of the company's commodity hedging positions, earnings were $1.03 per share.

Analysts on average were expecting $1.02 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Net revenue rose 14 percent to $10.95 billion.

Since PepsiCo makes a wide range of products and does business in many countries, it has had an easier time offsetting the industrywide pressures of soaring commodity costs and a U.S. economic slowdown.

The company, based in the New York City suburb of Purchase, said foreign exchange rates contributed 4 percentage points to revenue growth and 3 points to profit growth. Acquisitions added 3 points to revenue growth and 1 point to profit growth.