PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, N.Y., reported its first-quarter 2014 results. Net revenue for the entire company was flat, earning $12.62 billion in the 12 weeks ending March 22 compared with $12.58 billion in the 12 weeks ending March 23, 2013. Likewise, net revenue for its PepsiCo Americas Beverages business unit was flat, with approximately $4.4 billion in both first quarters. Overall beverage volume sales also were flat for the quarter.

However, organic net revenue for the entire company increased 4 percent in the quarter. Similarly, organic revenue for global beverages grew 3 percent in the quarter, and organic revenue for its PepsiCo Americas Beverages (PAB) business unit increased 1 percent in the quarter, reflecting 1 percentage point of effective net pricing and even organic volume.

In North America, non-carbonated beverage volume grew 2 percent, and carbonated soft drink volume declined 1 percent. Latin America beverage volume decreased 1 percent, driven by volume declines in Mexico related to the enactment of taxes on certain beverage products.

"We're pleased with our performance in the first quarter of 2014,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi in a statement. “PepsiCo delivered mid-single-digit organic revenue growth and double-digit core constant currency earnings per share growth, despite ongoing macroeconomic volatility, political instability and other challenging marketplace conditions in a number of our key markets.

“We continue to perform well, in part because we have strong, balanced portfolios of brands, products and geographies that enable us to capture growth opportunities across multiple demand spaces while  we responsibly manage through the volatility and challenges in other parts of the business,” she continued. “We're also benefiting from the investments we've recently made to strengthen our brands, innovate more effectively, and drive better execution, all while operating more efficiently by leveraging our global scale and capabilities.”

Excluding the impact of structural changes and foreign exchange translation, the company expects organic revenue in 2014 to grow mid-single digits versus 2013, consistent with its long-term target. Based on the current foreign exchange market consensus, the company currently expects foreign exchange translation to have an unfavorable impact of approximately 3 percentage points on full-year net revenue growth in 2014.

PepsiCo also expects low-single-digit commodity inflation and productivity savings of approximately $1 billion and plans to return a total of $8.7 billion to shareholders in 2014 through dividends of approximately $3.7 billion and share repurchases of approximately $5 billion.

"We remain confident in achieving our financial goals for the full year and believe that we have the right strategies in place to create long-term value for our shareholders," Nooyi said in a statement.

To view the full report, visit www.pepsico.com/investors.