Philip Morris Lifts Full-Year EPS Projection After Earnings

On a GAAP basis, Philip Morris reported EPS of $1.25.

Total cigarette shipments dropped by 1.5% in the quarter, which the company principally attributed to declines in shipments Asia, mainly Indonesia, Japan and Pakistan. Excluding inventory movements, shipment volumes dropped by 1.1%.

Currency translation effects cost the company $1.4 billion in third-quarter revenues. Adjusted operating income totaled $3 billion, down 12.1% year over year.

The company revised and narrowed its full year 2015 EPS forecast (GAAP) as a range of $4.35 to $4.40, compared with full-year 2014 EPS of $4.76. On a constant currency basis, Philip Morris expects EPS to rise by 11% to 12% over last year’s total of $5.02. At the end of the second quarter, the company forecast an EPS increase of 9% to 11%.

The forecast includes a $1.22 per share reduction due to currency exchange rates. The consensus estimate had called for full-year EPS of $4.39 on revenues of $26.84 billion.

The company’s CEO noted:

Organic volume, market share and pricing trends remain very robust against the backdrop of an improved macroeconomic environment, particularly in our EU and EEMA Regions. … Although currency headwinds have again stiffened slightly, our business momentum is such that we are today revising and narrowing our full-year guidance, and increasing the projection of our constant-currency adjusted diluted EPS growth rate range to 11% to 12%.

Philip Morris raised its quarterly dividend from $1.00 per share to $1.02 during the quarter. That translates to a dividend yield of 4.85%. The company has not repurchased any shares so far in 2015. The company’s free cash flow, excluding the impact of currency translation, totaled $2.73 billion in the third quarter of 2015, up 2.1% compared with the third quarter of 2014.

The company’s shares closed at $84.48 on Wednesday and were inactive in Thursday’s premarket session. The stock’s 52-week range is $75.27 to $90.25. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $86.69 before the earnings report.

ALSO READ: Jefferies Franchise Pick Stocks to Buy That Also Pay Big Dividends