Tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. said Wedesday first-quarter net income fell to $589 million, or 28 cents a share, from $2.45 billion, or $1.16 a share in the year-ago period. Earnings from continuing operations fell to 28 cents a share from 29 cents a share in the year-ago period. Adjusted net income rose to 39 cents a share from 37 cents a share. Altria beat the Wall Street target of 38 cents a share in a survey of analysts by FactSet Research.
Revenue at the Richmond, Va. cigarette maker rose to $4.52 billion from $4.41 billion after its acquisition of UST Inc. Altria forecast 2009 earnings from continuing operations of $1.47 a share to $1.52 a share, compared to the analyst target of $1.73 a share. Altria said its first-quarter results were impacted by higher interest expense versus the prior-year period, charges related to the acquisition of UST Inc. and lower SABMiller plc equity earnings.
Disclosure I do not MO shares.
Interesting post on altria.
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