Pepsi Bottling Group
Total sales advanced 7.5% to $2.7 billion, which is just about the same rate Pepsi Bottling has grown the top line over the past three years. High single-digit expansion is certainly nothing to brag about, but I found it somewhat impressive given that Pepsi just reported negative volumes in its Americas segment, which was mostly because of tougher trends here in the U.S. The majority of Pepsi Bottling's sales stemmed from the U.S. and Canada, accounting for 83% of total revenue, where it saw a 5% increase in quarterly sales and a modest 2% bump in volumes for the quarter. Sales and case increases were led by robust growth in Europe and Mexico, which each make up about 17% of total sales.
Overall operating income fell 10% on charges from a Russian joint venture and a surprise hit from foreign exchange. Raw material costs also increased, but "significant cost productivity gains" helped Pepsi Bottling post flat earnings of $0.12 per share.
If the company hits the high end of its full-year guidance of $2.38, earnings will grow about 8%. That's still not too shabby given the challenging American trends that Pepsi, archrival Coca-Cola
Similar to my Foolish colleague Matthew Reilly's take on rival Coke's relationship with Coca-Cola Enterprises
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