PepsiCo net income up 9% to $1.71 bn in Q3

Driven by robust growth in its India business, beverages major PepsiCo today reported a 9 per cent jump in net income to $1.71 billion in the third quarter ended on September 5, 2009.

"India delivered very strong volume growth across carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages as targeted investments in infrastructure, significant improvements in market execution and unseasonably dry weather conditions all contributed to better than 50 per cent growth in the country," PepsiCo said in a statement.

PepsiCo had a net income of $1.57 billion in the year-ago period.

However, the soft-drink major's net revenue declined to $11.08 billion in the third quarter of 2009 from $11.24 billion in the same quarter last year.

In Asia/Middle East/Africa (AMEA), the company has posted 9 per cent volume growth in beverages segment, mainly on the contribution from India, it added.

AMEA snacks volume grew 8 per cent, more than double its growth in the previous quarter due to strong sequential improvement which resulted from broad-based geographic growth in India, South Africa and other emerging markets.

"PepsiCo's diversified food and beverage portfolio and our advantaged business model continued to drive solid results this quarter," PepsiCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi said.