Altria Profit Misses Estimates as Cigarette Volumes Decline
- Cheap gasoline isn't boosting sales as in previous quarters
- Company starts cost-cutting plan to keep pace with Reynolds
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Altria Group Inc., the largest seller of tobacco in the U.S., posted fourth-quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates after cigarette sales volume declined.
Falling gasoline prices failed to spur smokers to buy more cigarettes during the last quarter of the year, reversing a trend that had bolstered Altria’s results recently. Cigarette sales volumes fell 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, the company said today in a statement. Still, that measure was up 0.5 percent for the year.