Lorillard Shares Dip on Profit Miss

by Christopher Freeburn | October 24, 2012 1:47 pm

Lorillard (NYSE:LO[1]) shares slipped after the company reported third-quarter earnings[2] that missed Wall Street estimates.

The cigarette-maker said that it earned $283 million during the quarter, up 6% from $267 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EPS came in at $2.17, which fell short of the $2.23 that analysts had forecast, Dow Jones noted. Quarterly revenue edged up 2.4% to $1.66 billion, which beat the $1.2 billion that analysts were expecting.

Shares of Lorillard fell almost 3% on the news.

Company officials said that sales volume for its Newport cigarettes fell 2.3% compared to last year. Still, the brand increased its market share from 11.9% in 2011, to 12.1% at the end of the third quarter.

Lorillard is investing in electronic cigarettes, spending $135 million earlier this year to purchase blu eCigs. The company said it plans to increase national advertising and promotional efforts behind blu eCigs.

Yesterday, Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI[3]) posted third-quarter earnings[4] that met analysts’ forecasts, but narrowly missed on sales.

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