"NO Doubt" proof of inflation:
(7% pricing power)
Friday November 19, 8:40 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc.
PBG Issues Year-to-Date Progress Report
- Volume in Strong Recovery - 2000 Growth Targets Reaffirmed - Concentrate Pricing Set - Stock Repurchasing Activated
SOMERS, N.Y., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (NYSE: PBG <http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pbg&d=t> - news </n/p/pbg.html>) today issued an update on its year-to-date performance, just past the midpoint of the Company's fourth quarter, which ends on December 25, 1999.
Said Craig E. Weatherup, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PBG: ``We've had three consecutive quarters of strong operating results, and the fourth quarter is going better than expected. We'd envisioned a difficult volume comparison in the United States for the fourth quarter of 1998, considering last fall's successful rollout of Pepsi ONE, as well as the impact of additional price increases taken since Labor Day.
``However,' Mr. Weatherup continued, ``our volume trends have significantly improved, as recent price increases have now been in place for several months. In fact, in the four weeks since we've lapped the Pepsi ONE launch, we've experienced positive year-over-year U.S. volume growth -- especially in our large foodstore business.
``As we look forward to 2000, we're increasingly comfortable with our ability to deliver on all of PBG's growth targets, including improved returns in our foodstore business,' he said. ``We're convinced we can realize modest levels of additional foodstore pricing -- on top of the annualization of 1999 pricing -- while still achieving solid volume growth for the year. This should more than offset any cost-of-goods increases, including an almost 7-percent concentrate price increase from PepsiCo for 2000.'(cont)
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