Pepsi to Buy Back Shares

PepsiCo said it is planning to buy back up to $15bn of common shares through June 2013.

The global soft drink producer said some of the buybacks will be made under a prior repurchase authorisation from 2007, which had $6.4bn remaining at the start of the year and expires in June.

Earlier the company said it would buy shares of $4.4bn this year.

The company said it will also raise dividends by 7% to $1.92 a share annually, most like on 30 June when it expects to pay its next quarterly dividend.

In February PepsiCo took over its two biggest bottlers-Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas for $7.8bn.