PEP PepsiCo Inc

PepsiCo Inc. on Thursday said its profit in the final quarter of the year soared 31%, handily beating Wall Street expectations, as it excluded results from its Venezuelan business.

However, the snack-and-beverage giant guided for the current year below expectations.

The maker of Pepsi-Cola, Cheetos and Gatorade said it expects core earnings of $4.66 a share, compared with analyst estimates of $4.76 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said the company expects "solid financial performance despite expected continued macroeconomic challenges, particularly in certain key developing and emerging markets."

Venezuela, where the company derives about 2% of its revenue and profit, has been a point of weakness for PepsiCo. In the previous quarter, the company wrote down the value of its investments there and took a charge of $1.4 billion. Beginning in the latest quarter, PepsiCo said it would no longer include results from its Venezuelan subsidiaries.

In all, the company reported a profit of $1.72 billion, or $1.17 a share, up from $1.31 billion, or 87 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue declined 6.8% to $18.59 billion. PepsiCo also continues to grapple with weakening foreign currencies, which shaved eight percentage points off the top line. Organic revenue grew 4%, Pepsi said.

Analysts projected earnings of $1.06 a share on $18.51 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.

The company reported that its gross margin expanded by 185 basis points. Ms. Nooyi noted the company boosted its advertising and marketing expenses as a percentage of sales by 85 basis points in the fourth quarter.

Shares in the company, down 1.8% over the past three months, were inactive premarket.

Write to Anne Steele at anne.steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2016 07:35 ET (12:35 GMT)

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