Friday, February 13, 2009

Mixed Reports Cloud Financial Future for Pepsi

 Pepsi, (NYSE: PEP) , released its  fourth quarter numbers, which revealed a 43% loss in net income, but  Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) the largest bottler of Pepsi drinks, reported better than expected quarterly results.

Pepsi Bottling Group CEO Eric Foss told Forbes:

A combination of strong revenue and margin management, effective cost and productivity initiatives, prudent working capital management and good execution at the point of sale enabled us to make the most of a difficult situation.

According to an article from CNNMoney, Pepsi Co. doesn't expect to see better numbers anytime soon.

The company also expects the first half of 2009 - and the first quarter in particular - will present "the most difficult" year-over-year comparisons due to commodity costs and foreign exchange rates.

Meanwhile, Pepsi's arch nemisis,  Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) also had a "better than expected" fourth quarter, but Chief Executive Muhtar Kent warned the Wall Street Journal that Coke may not reach its short term goals for growth. 

So where can we expect Pepsi to go from here? I guess the answer is hidden in the cola.

Posted By Matt O'Hern at 11:02 AM
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