CALIFORNIA : BRIEFLY / BEVERAGES : Pepsi Says Quarterly Profit Is on Track

PepsiCo Inc. said a drop in shipments of concentrate to bottlers won’t hurt its third-quarter earnings, easing concerns that had pushed its stock down 10% in the last two weeks. The world’s second-largest soft drink company also said its North American operations will have lower income because of a decline in case volume, but its total profit will surpass the 32 cents a share it earned a year ago. It was expected to earn 33 cents, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. PepsiCo said higher profit at its Frito-Lay snack and Tropicana juice businesses made up for the lower sales of concentrate. Concern about lower sales of concentrate, which the bottlers turn into soft drinks, led some analysts to cut third-quarter earnings estimates. Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo also said it will buy back as much as $500 million of its stock before year-end. Pepsi earlier this year said it would buy $3 billion of its shares by 2001, and it has already spent $986 million. Pepsi closed down 31 cents at $33.56 on the NYSE. Its shares have dropped from a recent peak of $38.50 on Aug. 16. The announcement was made after the markets closed.