Income Up At Universal

Source from:  www.tobaccoreporter.com 02/09/2009

Feb 6, 2009-Universal Corp. reported net income of $53.1 million in the third quarter ending Dec. 31, 2008, compared with $50.8 million in the 2007 quarter. The company's results were boosted by strong performance of its flue-cured and burley operations, where shipments of larger African crops and good performance by the North American group had a significant effect. But the performance of those operations was offset by the negative effects of currency remeasurement related to Brazilian net monetary assets, which reduced operating income by $20 million. Revenues increased by 22 percent to $699 million, primarily due to increased costs of green tobacco that were passed through in sales prices, as well as to increased volumes after the small African crops last year. Similar factors affected the nine-month results. In addition, the company benefited from lower effective tax rates. Net income for the first three quarters of the fiscal year was $116.0 Million up from $109.3 million reported last year. Revenues increased by 19 percent during the nine-month period. Enditem