A Refreshing Swig of Pepsi

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Through good times and bad, food and beverage giant PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) has a habit of delivering consistent sales and earnings growth. First-quarter results released Thursday morning were no exception -- a welcome relief with higher food and commodity costs really starting to put a hurt on some of the competition. Pepsi put its size as well as its diverse products and distribution to good use in posting impressive 13.4% sales growth and a respectable 7.7% improvement in earnings per share for the quarter.

International growth was expected to be strong and didn't disappoint: Those sales advanced 27%, led by top-line strength in the Middle East/Africa/Asia region, which reported a 30% boost.

The only true negative for the quarter was a 0.6% fall in volume in the Americas beverage unit, which sells its signature soda and a number of non-carbonated beverages in North America and Latin America. But still, the unit managed 6% sales growth and a 7% profit increase, despite the fact that U.S. consumers continue to shift to healthier, non-fizzy drinks.

CEO Indra Nooyi summed up the quarter best by saying that Pepsi "faced the challenge of a macroeconomic slowdown in the U.S. and continued global commodity inflation, but the strength and breadth of our global footprint and portfolio helped us deliver strong first-quarter results." Again, the international strength is nice, but nothing special, because most companies, including archrival Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), are basking in an ideal environment worldwide because of a weak dollar and robust growth in developing markets.

You have to really give management kudos (or maybe Fritos?) for weathering a tough climate here at home. Food rivals such as Kraft (NYSE: KFT), Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE), and Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) are having a much tougher time growing the top line and maintaining profits right now. Fellow Fool Rich Smith rightly pointed out that profitability at Pepsi has contracted somewhat recently, but double-digit net margins are nothing to sneeze at, even during the best of times.  

For related Foolishness:

• Foolish Forecast: Pepsi on a Run?
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