NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. (PM), Thursday reported a drop in profit for the first quarter, as revenues declined on lower volumes and weak foreign exchange transactions. Nonetheless, earnings for the quarter easily beat Wall Street expectations, as did revenues.
New York-based Philip Morris' first-quarter profit dropped to $1.875 billion or $1.18 per share from last year's $2.125 billion or $1.28 per share.
Adjusted earnings were $1.19 per share, down from $1.29 last year. On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.16 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the quarter declined 4 percent to $17.78 billion from $18.53 billion last year.
PMI's net revenues, excluding excise taxes, dropped 8.8 percent to $6.92 billion from $7.58 billion last year. Eleven analysts had estimated revenues of $7.01 billion for the quarter.
Cigarette shipments for the quarter slid 4.4 percent from last year to 196.0 billion units. Among regions, volumes in Asia declined 2.5 percent, while Europe was down 2.9 percent. Latin America and Canada dropped 4.8 percent and EMEA slipped 7.2 percent.
Looking ahead to the full year 2014, the company now expects earnings of $5.09 to $5.19 per share, and excluding the unfavorable currency impact, earnings are projected to increase by about 6 to 8 percent from last year's of $5.40 a share. Analysts currently project annual earnings of $5.12 per share.
Initially, Philip Morris had projected earnings of $5.02 to $5.12 per share.
PM is currently trading at $82.43, down $2.36 or 2.78%, on the NYSE.
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