Marlboro maker Altria 4Q profit falls

Altria's fourth-quarter profit dropped 56 per cent as the Marlboro maker sold fewer cigarettes and recorded charges related to paying off debt early.
The owner of the nation's biggest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, posted earnings today of USD 488 million, or 24 cents per share. That's down from USD 1.1 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding one-time items, earnings were 57 cents per share, missing Wall Street expectations by a penny.
Altria Group Inc., based in Richmond, Virginia, said that revenue, excluding excise taxes, fell 1 percent to USD 4.4 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected USD 4.5 billion.

Cigarette volumes fell about 6 per cent to 31.8 billion cigarettes. Volumes of its premium Marlboro brand fell 5.7 per cent. Smokeless tobacco volumes fell 4.3 per cent.