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Philip Morris tops 1Q
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April 17, 2001: 10:06 a.m. ET
Tobacco and food company beats EPS forecast by 1 cent, confirms 2Q guidance
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Tobacco products and food maker Philip Morris Cos. said first-quarter earnings rose just past Wall Street forecasts and confirmed guidance for second-quarter results.
Philip Morris (MO: up $0.16 to $46.72, Research, Estimates), whose units include Marlboro cigarettes, Miller Brewing Co. and Kraft Foods, earned $2.1 billion, or 95 cents a diluted share on an underlying basis, which adjusts for its purchase of Nabisco last year. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had forecast earnings per share of 94 cents, up from 89 cents a year earlier, excluding special items.
Revenue rose 10.8 percent to $22.4 billion. Beer sales fell 2.5 percent, and international tobacco sales slipped 2.1 percent to just under $7 billion, but most other of the company's segments posted healthy sales gains, due to either the Nabisco acquisition or increased demand.
Domestic tobacco sales increased 8.7 percent to $5.9 billion, even as volume fell 2.3 percent, due to higher pricing.
North American food business grew 36.6 percent to $6.3 billion. Most of that gain was due to the addition of Nabisco in December. If Nabisco had been owned by Philip Morris for the full year, volume would have grown 3.3 percent in the segment. Overseas food sales rose 9.4 percent to $2.1 billion.
Philip Morris is one of four components of the Dow Jones industrial average that reported results Tuesday before the market open. A fifth, chipmaker Intel Corp. (INTC: Research, Estimates), is set to release results after the market close. 
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