The world’s number two soft drink producer PepsiCo is planning up to a US$2 billion buy back programme this year, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.


A Securities and Exchange Commission filing said PepsiCo plans to spend between US$1 billion and $2 billion on stock buybacks during the year ending December 27th. Based on the company’s share price the buyback represent around 3% of PepsiCo’s outstanding stock.


In its first quarter, ending March 22, the company repurchased 7.4 million shares for US$306m.


PepsiCo also said it expects capital expenditures for this fiscal year of US$1.5 billion, which is just under 6% of its revenues. Revenues were US$25.11 billion in 2002.