Pepsico Earnings Shoot Up 13-Fold

PepsiCo Inc. on Tuesday reported a 13-fold increase in its fourth-quarter profits as the soft drink and snack maker re-entered Venezuela and cut big losses in its international division.

PepsiCo earned $401 million, or 25 cents per share on a diluted basis, in the final three months of 1997. A year earlier, the company earned $28 million, or 3 cents per share. Revenues rose to $6.26 billion from $6.05 billion.

Last year’s results were hurt by a $397 million loss in its international business as Coca-Cola lured away Pepsi’s longtime bottler in Venezuela, a market Pepsi had dominated.