ALTRIA GROUP INC (MO) 18.98 -$0.23 (-1.20%) 09:19PM (15 mins delay)

Altria Profits on Stronger Cigar Sales

Oct 21, 2009 - 10:45 AM EDT

Altria Group (MO), the parent company of Philip Morris, posted third quarter earnings of $882 million, or 42 cents per share, a few percentage points higher than last years gain of $867 million in the same quarter. Excluding items, Altria said earnings totaled 48 cents per share, better than Wall Street expected. Revenue at the biggest cigarette maker in the US was up 20 percent, as sales of cigar were strong, even as cigarette sales decline. The parent company of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker, says revenue climbed 20 percent to $6.3 billion. Altria hiked the low end of its earnings guidance by two cents, to a full year 2009 adjusted profit of $1.74 to $1.77 per share. For MarketNewsVideo.com, I'm Sayoko Murase.

Source: Market News Video (Oct 21, 2009 - 10:45 AM EDT)