Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG) reversed a prior-year loss in
the fourth-quarter caused by restructuring charges and write-downs.
Meanwhile in the latest quarter, revenue was flat as volume
declined.
Signs began to emerge late last year that the soda industry -
which has been battling weakened volume for some time--has seen the
worst effects of the recession. Easing commodities costs and
reduced foreign-exchange pressures helped boost results in the
prior quarter.
The world's largest Pepsi bottler and PepsiAmericas Inc. (PAS)
are being acquired by PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) in a $7.8 billion deal
that is expected to close by the end of the current quarter.
Pepsi Bottling reported a profit of $90 million, or 40 cents a
share, compared with a prior-year loss of $271 million, or $1.28 a
share. Excluding items such as prior-year write-downs and tax-law
changes, earnings rose to 59 cents from 30 cents.
Revenue was flat at $3.81 million, but excluding
foreign-exchange impacts was up 3%. Global case volume fell 3%.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast
earnings of 43 cents on revenue of $3.83 billion.
Gross margin fell to 43.9% from 44.6%.
Shares closed Monday at $37.63 and didn't trade premarket. The
stock has nearly doubled in the past year.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481;
Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com