Pepsi CFO: We're Operating From A 'Position Of Strength'

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. PEP hit a new 52-week high of $109.00 on Thursday after the company reported its second quarter results.

Pepsi said it earned $1.35 per share in the third quarter on revenue of $15.4 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.30 per share on revenue of $15.37 billion. Hugh Johnston, Pepsi's Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman, was a guest on CNBC later in the morning.

"I think overall in beverages we are doing pretty well," he started off as saying.

Related Link: PepsiCo Q2 Results Beat Expectations, Investors Ignore Lower Outlook

Johnston highlighted Pepsi's 2 percent "solid" volume growth across the world while profit growth in the North American market jumped 6 percent. However, a 1 percent revenue growth in the region was somewhat below expectations but this may have been due to a slow start to the summer season and results should improve going forward due to new innovative products, such as Mountain Dew Black Label and Aquafina Sparkling.

"Consumers are willing to pay for those differentiated products," he added.

Johnston said Pepsi will be offering a diet version of its Pepsi beverage with and without aspartame as some consumers have said they don't want the additive while others prefer the taste. Outside of the core Pepsi line, the company boasts the Gatorade and Tropicana brands which makes it able to offer a wide variety of beverage choices to satisfy nearly every taste.

Finally, when asked to comment on the M&A activity seen in the food and beverage space, Johnston said that Pepsi's management team is "happy" with its product portfolio following its own acquisitions in the past 10 years.

"We look at basically everything - I mean we look at every opportunity that is out there," he also said. "And if we don't buy it, it's because we didn't want it. I would say that across every single company that is out there."

Bottom line, Johnston said the company is operating from a "position of strength" and it doesn't "feel the need to do anything" on the M&A front.