PepsiCo 2Q profit falls 2 pct on sales drop

NEW YORK: Soft drinks and snack maker PepsiCo says its second-quarter profit fell 2 percent as sales dropped 3 percent, but it still beat analyst expectations.

The company reiterated its expectation that 2009 profit will grow by a mid- to high-single digit percentage over 2008 profit of $3.68 per share.

The maker of Pepsi cola and Frito-Lay snacks says it earned $1.66 billion, or $1.06 per share, in the three months that ended June 13. That's down from the $1.7 billion, or $1.05 per share, a year earlier.

Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo, which also sells the Gatorade and Tropicana brands, says revenue slumped 3 percent to $10.59 billion from $10.95 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast profit of $1 per share on revenue of $10.99 billion.