UPDATE: Charges Weigh On Reynolds But Ups 2008 Outlook
Wednesday October 22nd, 2008 / 15h04
By William Spain CHICAGO (Dow Jones) - Charges dragged down Reynolds American's third quarter profit by 41% and while volume decline also weighed on the top line, the tobacco giant on Wednesday still managed to raise its full-year profit target. Before the start of trading, Reynolds (RAI) said that it earned $211 million, or 72 cents a share, on the quarter, down from $358 million, or $1.21 a share in the year-ago period. But, knocking out various items, the company said it would have earned $1.29 a share. Revenue fell 1% to $2.27 billion. The average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet Research had been for the company to earn $1.20 a share on revenue of $2.26 billion. Cigarette volume was down 7.5% even as top brands Camel and Pall Mall managed to grow both shipments and market share. Conwood, the company's smokeless tobacco, or "snuff," unit had what Reynolds called "another record quarter" with its Grizzly brand delivering double-digit volume growth. Following up on its "solid" third quarter, Thomas Adams, chief financial officer, said the company now expects full-year "net earnings growth in the low single digits compared with 2007 adjusted results." That expectation excludes the any joint-venture gains and third-quarter charges. Earlier, the company had said it expected profit to be flat in 2008. Shares of Reynolds inched up about 1% to $45.58 in early action.
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