PepsiCo Lifts Dividend 4.4% After Quarterly Sales Gain

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), the world’s largest snack-food maker, increased its dividend by 4.4 percent after reporting a jump in first-quarter sales.

The company, based in Purchase, New York, will pay $2.15 a share over the course of a year, up from $2.06, according to a statement today. PepsiCo, which said it raised the dividend for the 40th consecutive year, makes payments quarterly.

PepsiCo, led by Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi, said on April 26 that first-quarter sales rose 4.1 percent to $12.4 billion, as revenue in the Latin America Foods unit grew 11 percent on higher pricing. Net income fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier to $1.13 billion, or 71 cents a share.

Nooyi is cutting 8,700 jobs this year to reduce expenses as she plans to spend as much as $600 million more on marketing to win back soft-drink market share from Coca-Cola Co.

The company’s next quarterly dividend, of 53.75 cents a share, is payable on June 29 to stockholders of record June 1, the company said in the statement.

PepsiCo climbed 0.5 percent to $66.83 at the close in New York. The shares fell 3.6 percent in the 12 months through today, compared with a 14 percent jump for Coca-Cola. (KO)

To contact the reporter on this story: Duane D. Stanford in Atlanta at dstanford2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robin Ajello at rajello@bloomberg.net