Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reported third-quarter 2016 results before markets opened on Thursday. The tobacco products firm posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.25 on revenue of $6.98 billion. In the same period a year ago the company reported EPS of $1.24 on $6.93 billion in revenues. Reported revenue is net of excise taxes. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates for EPS of $1.24 and revenue of $6.97 billion.
Total cigarette shipments dropped by 5.4% in the quarter, which the company principally attributed to declines in shipments to North Africa, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Canada.
Currency translation effects cost the company $196 million in third-quarter revenues. Adjusted operating income totaled $3.1 billion, up 1.2% year over year.
The company reaffirmed full-year 2016 diluted EPS in a range of $4.53 to $4.58, compared with EPS of $4.42 in 2015. The forecast represents a projected increase of 10.5% to 11.5% to 2015 adjusted EPS of $4.42.
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The forecast includes a $0.35 per share reduction due to currency exchange rates. The consensus estimate had called for full-year EPS of $4.51 on revenues of $26.62 billion.
CEO André Calantzopoulos said:
Our adjusted diluted EPS in the quarter increased by 4.0%, excluding currency, in line with our expectations. We are confident that we will achieve our full-year reported diluted EPS forecast. We continue to anticipate annual volume in line with the September year-to-date decline of 3.9%, despite temporary volume weakness this quarter.
Philip Morris raised its quarterly dividend from $1.02 to $1.04 during the quarter. That translates to a dividend yield of 4.34%. The company has not repurchased any shares so far in 2016.
The company’s shares traded up fractionally at $96.27 Tuesday morning. The stock’s 52-week range is $83.27 to $104.20. The 12-month consensus price target was $106.13 before this latest report.
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