Pepsi Bottling Group raises Q2 outlook

SOMERS, N.Y. The Pepsi Bottling Group announced Tuesday that it has raised its second quarter and 2009 earnings guidance. The company now expects to deliver comparable diluted earnings per share of $0.70 to $0.74 in the second quarter, a $0.05 increase from its previous guidance range.

For the full-year, PBG now expects comparable diluted EPS in the range of $2.30 to $2.40, up 10 cents from the company’s previous forecast. The company also raised its full-year operating free cash flow guidance by $25 million to $525 million.

Among the key drivers of the company’s revised outlook are: improved carbonated soft drink performance in the United States; decreased volatility in foreign currencies; and continued commodity cost deflation.

“PBG’s strong start to the year has continued in the second quarter. Improving fundamentals in our U.S. and Canada business, coupled with the success of our global pricing strategy, are producing solid results. We’re also delivering significant cost and productivity savings and superior execution at the point of sale. At the same time, we’re beginning to see favorable trends within our sector as well as in the commodity and foreign currency markets. As a result, our performance continues to exceed our expectations and we are raising our guidance,” said PBG chairman and CEO Eric Foss.

Last week, PBG announced the re-election 10 directors of its board.