Philip Morris Shares Dip on Lower Sales

by Christopher Freeburn | October 18, 2012 1:30 pm

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM[1]) announced on Thursday that it earned $2.23 billion during the third quarter[2], down from $2.38 billion in the same period last year. Adjusted EPS came in at $1.38, falling just short of analysts, who forecast earnings of $1.39 a share, the Associated Press noted.

The cigarette maker said that revenue, excluding excise taxes, dropped to $7.9 billion, down 5% compared to last year. That also missed Wall Street, which was looking for sales of $8.2 billion.

Shares of Philip Morris International slipped more than 3% in Thursday afternoon trading.

Company officials predicted a profit of between $5.12 and $5.18 a share for the year, compared to previous estimates of between $5.10 and $5.20 a share.

Philip Morris said it repurchased 16.7 million shares worth $1.5 billion during the quarter. The company launched a new three-year buyback program to repurchase $18 billion in shares in August.

During the quarter, Marlboro shipments declined to 77.1 billion cigarettes, down 2.3% from last year. Worldwide cigarette shipments declined by 1% compared to last year, falling to 236.5 billion cigarettes.

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