Wednesday January 30, 05:58 PM
Altria to spin off Philip Morris in March
NEW YORK (AFP) - US tobacco giant Altria said Wednesday it would spin off its Philip Morris International unit in March, continuing a restructuring begun last year.
Altria, the maker of Marlboro and other cigarette brands, said it plans to sell PMI to shareholders, with the transaction effective on March 28.
The New York-based company had announced the spinoff of PMI as an independent entity in August. The new group to be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, would become free from litigation and public relations problems in the United States over tobacco marketing.
Altria also reported earnings dented by its spinoff of Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT - news) in March 2007 but boosted by sales overseas.
Net profit in the fourth quarter fell 26.1 percent to 2.18 billion dollars from a year earlier, the company said.
The 2007 full-year profit was 9.78 billion dollars, down 18.6 percent from 2006.
Earnings per share, excluding exceptional items, were one dollar in the fourth quarter, topping market expectations of 97 cents. For the full year, earnings per share were 4.36 dollars, in line with forecasts of 4.37 dollars.
Revenues net of excise taxes increased 7.4 percent to 9.3 billion dollars for the fourth quarter, "largely driven by international tobacco," the company said.
For the full year, revenues rose by 5.8 percent to 38.1 billion dollars mainly on increases in both US tobacco and international tobacco businesses.
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
