Shares of PepsiCo Inc. PEP, -1.36% edged up 0.1% in premarket trading Thursday, after the beverage and snack company reported fourth-quarter profit that topped expectations, revenue that rose above forecasts and raised its dividend. Net income rose to $1.85 billion, or $1.33 a share, from $1.77 billion, or $1.26 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, core earnings per share grew to $1.47 from $1.45, above the FactSet consensus of $1.46. Revenue increased 8.8% to $22.46 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $21.80 billion. In North America, Frito-Lay revenue rose 5.7% to $5.44 billion, just shy of the FactSet consensus of $5.48 billion; Quaker Foods revenue increased 8.3% to $836 million, above expectations of $808.4 million; and PepsiCo Beverages revenue grew 8.6% to $6.79 billion, beating forecasts of $6.60 billion. Latin America revenue fell 5.2% to $2.41 billion, but beat expectations of $2.29 billion, while Europe revenue rose 3.8% to $4.04 billion to top forecasts of $3.93 billion. “We ended the year on a strong note with our global beverage business having accelerated while our global snacks and food business remained resilient in the fourth quarter,” said Chief Executive Ramon Laguarta. Separately, the company raised its annual dividend by 5%, to $4.30 a share from $4.09 a share, effective with the dividend to be paid in June. The stock has lost 4.3% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.03% has gained 9.4%.
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