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Empresas y finanzas

PepsiCo to invest in brands, cut jobs


    (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc said it planned to pour $500 million to $600 million into its brands this year to increase sales in North America, where it lags behind archrival Coca-Cola Co .

    PEPSICO (PEP.NY) whose brands include Sierra Mist, Tropicana and Gatorade, also said it would cut about 8,700 jobs, or about 3 percent of its global workforce.

    The company also reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1.42 billion, or 89 cents per share, up from $1.37 billion, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier.

    Excluding items, PepsiCo earned $1.15 per share.

    Revenue rose 11 percent to $20.2 billion.

    The company also said it expects to generate $1.5 billion of cost savings by 2014.

    The company is targeting high single-digit earnings growth for 2013 and beyond, after a transition year in 2012, in which it expects earnings to fall 5 percent.

    (Reporting by Martinne Geller in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Maureen Bavdek)