{"text":[[{"start":6.9,"text":"PepsiCo has warned that elevated fuel prices will intensify inflationary pressure over the rest of the year as a nascent recovery in US sales at the consumer goods group stalled in the second quarter."}],[{"start":18.6,"text":"The company said on Thursday it expected “higher input cost inflation” in the second half of its financial year versus the first six months. "}],[{"start":27.05,"text":"Productivity savings and refund claims for tariffs, however, are expected to mitigate “a good portion” of those higher costs."}],[{"start":34.75,"text":"PepsiCo’s results also showed a stark divide between the performance of its North American business and its faster growing international operations."}],[{"start":44.05,"text":"Sales volumes at PepsiCo’s North American snacks business, home to the likes of Doritos tortilla chips and Lay’s crisps, were flat in the three months ended June 13, while price cuts resulted in a 2 per cent drop in organic revenue."}],[{"start":59.05,"text":"“Results were tempered in the quarter as US food and beverage category performance moderated with consumer budgets tightening due to rising inflationary pressures,” chief executive Ramon Laguarta said in prepared remarks on Thursday."}],[{"start":72.2,"text":"The company’s shares closed 3.3 per cent lower."}],[{"start":76.25,"text":"On a call with analysts later on Thursday, Laguarta said the near-term outlook for the US “all depends on the price of gas, so that’s clearly something that is beyond our control”."}],[{"start":87.5,"text":"However, he added that PepsiCo’s international markets “have remained very resilient” despite consumers also suffering the consequences of higher fuel prices off the back of the Iran war. The chief executive highlighted the better-than-anticipated performance in the Middle East, Vietnam, Thailand, China and Europe."}],[{"start":105,"text":"Reported revenues at PepsiCo’s divisions outside North America all rose by at least 10 per cent in the second quarter and, at worst, had flat sales volume growth."}],[{"start":116.05,"text":"The resumption of hostilities between US and Iran in recent days has pushed up the price of oil to about $80 a barrel, which could lead to inflationary pressures persisting for longer than expected."}],[{"start":129.6,"text":"The slowdown in PepsiCo’s US snack division contrasts with a pick-up in demand in the first three months of the year, after the company cut prices on snacks by up to 15 per cent ahead of February’s Super Bowl. This boosted volumes for that unit, which is one of the company’s two biggest revenue drivers, the first increase in almost three years."}],[{"start":150.6,"text":"Earlier this week, retail giant Walmart said it was instituting price “rollbacks” on groceries. These included price cuts on several PepsiCo products, including 8oz bags of Lay’s classic potato crisps and 24-packs of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Diet Mountain Dew."}],[{"start":167.75,"text":"The strong showing from PepsiCo’s international businesses helped the company report a 6.4 per cent rise in revenue in the second quarter to $24.2bn, beating Wall Street expectations. Its jump in net income to almost $3bn roughly matched market forecasts. "}],[{"start":188.2,"text":"Packaged food groups are also coming under pressure from a pushback against processed products and the steep rise in the number of consumers taking appetite-suppressing GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. FTSE 100 group Unilever is combining its food division with spice maker McCormick in a $66bn deal."}],[{"start":206.64999999999998,"text":"PepsiCo maintained its guidance for its financial year, forecasting organic revenue to increase between 2 per cent and 4 per cent and earnings per share growth of between 4 per cent and 6 per cent."}],[{"start":227.29999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783649173_2880.mp3"}