PepsiCo Inc. said fourth-quarter profit rose 17 percent, helped by higher prices, and authorized a new plan to repurchase as much as $10 billion in stock as the world’s largest snack-food maker returns cash to investors.
Net income increased to $1.66 billion, or $1.06 a share, from $1.42 billion, or 89 cents, a year earlier, the Purchase, New York-based company said today in a statement. Profit excluding some items totaled $1.09 a share. Analysts had projected $1.05, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
