PepsiCo says strong sales of its snack products and beverages in developing markets helped its first-quarter profit rise 26 percent, beating analyst estimates.

Frito-Lay North America snacks sales rose slightly, while sales of snacks and beverages posted double-digit gains in India and China.

Pepsi says it earned $1.43 billion, or 89 cents per share, in the first three months of the year.

Analysts expected earnings of 75 cents a share.

Sales climbed 13 percent to $9.37 billion. North American beverage revenue dipped. But profit improved because of the company's purchase of its bottlers in the quarter.

PepsiCo expects earnings to grow between 11 and 13 percent in fiscal 2010.