Cigar Weekly

Altria Group said Thursday its second-quarter profit fell 58 percent, as results from last year included the company's now-separate international cigarette unit.

The Richmond, Va.-based company that owns cigarette maker Philip Morris USA says it made $930 million, or 45 cents per share, compared with profit of $2.22 billion, or $1.05 per share, during the same period last year.

Excluding one-time items, the company said profit rose to 46 cents per share. Revenue rose 4 percent to $5.05 billion from $4.86 billion.

Thomson Financial says analysts expected a profit of 45 cents per share on revenue of $4.17 billion.

In the second quarter, operating income rose as the company cut costs and raised prices to offset a roughly 4 percent industrywide decline in cigarette demand from U.S. consumers.

Altria's top-selling Marlboro brand gained 0.8 percentage points to reach a market share of 41.8 percent, while the company's market share for all brands reached 51 percent of the entire U.S. market.

Philip Morris USA's cigarette shipment volume fell 4.5 percent in the U.S. It also sells the Parliament, Virginia Slims and Basic brands.

Altria's John Middleton cigars reported sales volume grew 11 percent from the same period last year.

Executives of Altria Group Inc. reaffirmed their 2008 forecast for earnings per share in the range of $1.63 to $1.67. Analysts expected $1.67 per share for the year.