DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 

PepsiAmericas Inc.'s (PAS) third-quarter earnings fell 13% amid foreign-exchange impacts and weak demand, in what is set to be one of its last quarters reporting as an independent company.

The results fell short of Wall Street estimates. However, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert C. Pohlad said, "Given the challenges in our European business and volume pressures in the U.S., we are satisfied with our performance this quarter." In Europe, weaker economic trends in Romania hurt results, while volumes improved sequentially in all other markets, he said. In the U.S., take-home sales were particularly soft.

The company cut its 2009 earnings forecast to $1.83 to $1.87 a share from its boosted July forecast of $1.87 to $1.94 a share.

The U.S. bottling industry has struggled with weakening soda sales volume for some time, with the recession adding to its woes. However, there have been signs the sector may have already seen the worst of the declines related to the economic downturn.

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) agreed in August to pay a combined $7.8 billion for its two largest bottlers--PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.(PBG)--in an effort improve distribution and cut costs.

PepsiAmericas reported a profit of $63.5 million, or 51 cents a share, down from $73.1 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding item, such as asset write-downs and prior-year restructuring-related expenses, earnings rose to 59 cents a share from 45 cents.

Revenue decreased 15% to $1.13 billion, roughly half due to currency changes.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast earnings of 62 cents on revenue of $1.22 billion.

Gross margin rose to 41.2% from 40.8% amid higher prices.

Global volume fell 9%. In the U.S., net sales fell 3% and volume was down 8.9%, including three percentage points from when Independence Day fell on the calendar. Carbonated soft-drink volume declined 8%, while noncarbonated drinks fell 11%.

Central and Eastern Europe sales volume fell 9.3% amid foreign-exchange effects, but that was a sequential improvement from a 13% drop in the second quarter. Net sales were down 27%.

Shares closed Tuesday at $29.44 and didn't trade premarket. The stock is up 45% this year.

-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com