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By Bloomberg

PepsiCo Inc., whose stable of brands includes beverages and the Frito-Lay snack division, posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates even as currency headwinds eroded sales.

Excluding some items, including the currency impact, profit was $1.12 a share in the period, the Purchase, New York-based company said Wednesday in a statement. The average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg was $1.08 a share.

PepsiCo posted organic sales growth of 5 percent last quarter, helped by gains at both its snacks and beverages businesses. While currency fluctuations turned that growth into a 1 percent decrease, the results showed overlying strength at the company. It also pledged to return $8.5 billion to $9 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in 2015.

PepsiCo’s “domestic beverage business has improved, led by strength in Gatorade,” Bonnie Herzog, a New York-based analyst for Wells Fargo & Co., said in a note last week. “Snacks have continued to perform well.”

The shares rose 3.6 percent to $101.55 in early trading on Wednesday after the results were released. PepsiCo stock had climbed 3.6 percent this year before today.

Activist Feud

Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi has forged a truce with activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management LP, who had insisted she split the company’s snack and beverage businesses. Peltz backed away from his threat of a proxy fight after PepsiCo elected Bill Johnson, a longtime food company executive and adviser to Trian Fund Management, to its board.

Like rival Coca-Cola Co. and other global companies, PepsiCo is coping with the surging value of the dollar, which reduces the value of its sales overseas. Coca-Cola also beat estimates with its fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, saying that North American growth was helping offset a slowdown in the rest of the world.

Currency will reduce earnings growth in 2015 by 7 percent, PepsiCo said. The company expects organic sales growth in the mid-single digits.

“As we look ahead to 2015, we expect to again deliver results consistent with our long-term financial objectives, despite the anticipated challenging and volatile global macro environment,” Nooyi said in Wednesday’s statement.