PepsiCo maintains 2010 earnings forecast after closing buyout of 2 biggest bottlers

PepsiCo maintains 2010 earnings forecast

PURCHASE, N.Y. — PepsiCo. on Monday reiterated its 2010 earnings prediction after it completed the purchase of its two biggest bottlers.

The company, based in Purchase, N.Y., expects earnings per share growth of 11 percent to 13 percent over 2009 results of $3.77 per share. That implies 2010 earnings per share of $4.18 to $4.26.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast 2010 earnings per share of $4.14.

PepsiCo. also expects to grow earnings per share by “low double-digit” percentages in 2011 and 2012.

The company also said that PepsiCo Americas Beverages segment has been reorganized. The segment, which includes PepsiCo’s beverage businesses in the Americas, will be comprised of two business units.

The combined units, called Pepsi Beverages Co., will be led by Eric J. Foss.

Massimo F. d’Amore will continue to lead Gatorade, Tropicana and Latin America Beverages as CEO of PepsiCo Beverages Americas.

Operations of Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas in Europe will be consolidated into PepsiCo Europe, led by CEO Zein Abdalla.

The $7.8 billion buyout of Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas will allow the second-largest U.S. drink maker to try out more new products and get them to market more quickly.

The deal, first announced in August, is also a way for PepsiCo to save money because it won’t be using other companies for its distribution. It estimates pretax savings of $400 million by 2012 from the buyouts, though analysts expect higher.