Frito-Lay 2010 profits up while Pepsico profits dip

Plano-based Frito-Lay Inc. posted its “strongest profit growth performance in a decade” last year, even as parent PepsiCo Inc. reported a fourth-quarter drop in profit due in part to higher costs.

Frito-Lay, the largest snack maker in the US, boosted operating profit by 8 percent for the full year, and 7 percent for the quarter that ended Dec. 25. It was part of a strong year for PepsiCo snacks both in the U.S. and abroad.

“Frito-Lay demonstrated its ability to perform well in a challenging environment in 2010,” said Hugh Johnston, PepsiCo’s chief financial officer, calling it one of the fastest-growing consumer-packaged goods companies in the nation.

Between Frito-Lay and sister operations that sell snacks abroad, “we have a big global snacks franchise that is pretty well peerless,” Johnston said.