Altria's Net Increases 6.4%
A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
October 19, 2004 11:15 a.m.
Altria Group Inc. reported both profit and revenue rose in the third quarter, helped by investment sales, favorable foreign-exchange rates and a lower tax rate.
The parent company of Marlboro cigarettes and Kraft Foods also narrowed its full-year earnings outlook, raising the floor of its previous range.
Altria, which is based in New York, said its net income rose 6.4% to $2.65 billion, or $1.29 a share, from $2.49 billion, or $1.22 a share, in last year's third quarter. The company recorded a one-time gain of five cents a share from sales of investments at SABMiller PLC. Altria still retains a 36% stake in the London-based brewer.
Revenue increased 8.5% to $22.73 billion from $20.94 billion in the year-earlier period. The company said favorable exchange rates contributed $417 million.
Philip Morris's domestic tobacco business reported its market share rose to 49.9% from 49.8% a year earlier, driven by its Marlboro brand, but cigarette shipment volume dropped 1% to 48.3 billion units. International cigarette shipments were up 5.1%; excluding the impact of acquisitions, shipments rose 2.9%.
Altria said its operating income fell 1.5% to $4.2 billion, which the company attributed to charges for asset impairment, and restructuring costs for its Kraft division.
On Monday, Kraft reported its profit fell 3.8%, hurt by higher commodity and marketing costs. But revenue climbed 4.7%, helped by price increases that Kraft implemented to help offset costs for ingredients such as milk, meat and coffee. Altria has an 84% stake in the company.
Altria also increased its quarterly dividend by 7.4% to 73 cents a share. The new dividend represents an annualized rate of $2.92 a share.
The company narrowed its forecast for full-year earnings per share to a range of $4.55 to $4.60 and said it believes it can achieve the high end of that range if current exchange rates hold. The previous range was $4.50 to $4.60 a share.
In a conference call following its earnings report, Altria said a proposed $10 billion buyout of tobacco farmers' quotas isn't likely to affect results significantly this year or next at its domestic tobacco unit. The legislation is awaiting President Bush's approval. |
