PepsiCo's profit beats on higher sales for Frito-Lay snacks

(Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit despite a drop in demand for its beverages in the United States as it sold more snacks under the Frito-Lay brand and benefited from lower costs.

Revenue from its Frito-Lay business, which includes snacks such as Cheetos and Doritos, rose 3.2 percent in the third quarter ended Sept. 9. Total selling and general costs fell 0.7 percent to $5.87 billion.

However, revenue from its North America beverage unit, the company's largest, fell 3.4 percent to $5.33 billion in the quarter, hurt partly by weak performance of its Gatorade brand, PepsiCo said on Wednesday.

While volume sales in the business, which also sells Diet Pepsi and Lipton tea, was down 6 percent, net pricing rose 1 percent.

Soda consumption has been falling for the last 12 years as more consumers choose healthier options. But dollar sales have risen as soft drink makers aggressively pushed smaller packs at higher prices per ounce.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $2.14 billion, or $1.49 per share, in the quarter, from $1.99 billion, or $1.37 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned a profit of $1.48 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.43, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net revenue rose 1.3 percent to $16.24 billion, coming in below the average analyst estimate of $16.31 billion.

PepsiCo's shares were up 0.7 percent at $109.9 in premarket trading on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)