Philip Morris USA's reported domestic cigarette volume shipments during the three months to the end of September, at 36.6 billion, were down by 2.4 per cent on those of 2009's third quarter.
Marlboro shipments, at 31.8 billion, were down by 0.3 per cent, while shipments of the company's other premium brands, at 2.8 billion, were down by 9.3 per cent. Shipments of discount brands, at 2.0 billion, were down by 21.0 per cent.
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Meanwhile, PM USA's cigarette shipments for the first nine months of 2010, at 107.2 billion, were down by 4.7 per cent on those of the first nine months of 2009.
Marlboro shipments, at 92.7 billion, were down by 3.0 per cent, while shipments of the company's other premium brands, at 7.9 billion, were down by 12.7 per cent. Shipments of discount brands, at 6.6 billion, were down by 16.3 per cent.
In reporting its results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2010, Altria said that, after adjusting primarily for changes in trade inventories, PM USA's cigarette shipments for the three- and nine-months periods were estimated to be down by about four per cent and six per cent respectively, declines that were in line with the overall domestic market performance.
Marlboro's share of the retail market during the nine months to the end of September, at 42.7 per cent, was up by 0.8 of a percentage point on that of its share during the three months to the end of September 2009.
The share of the company's other premium brands dropped by 0.5 of a percentage point to 3.9 per cent, the share of its discount brands dropped by 0.4 of a percentage point to 3.4 per cent, and, overall, its share dropped by 0.1 of a percentage point to 50.0 per cent.
USSTC (acquired by Altria on January 6, 2009) and PM USA's combined reported domestic smokeless products shipment volume for the three months to the end of September, at 183.9 million cans and packs, was up by 16.4 per cent on that of the three months to the end of September 2009.
Shipments of Copenhagen were up by 19.3 per cent to 80.9 million, shipments of Skoal were up by 4.3 per cent to 69.8 million, and shipments of other brands were up by 42.8 per cent to 33.2 million.
Meanwhile, smokeless shipments during the nine months to the end of September were up by 15.6 per cent to 551.9 million, with shipments of Copenhagen up 20.8 per cent to 244.9 million, shipments of Skoal up 5.0 per cent to 208.7 million, and shipments of other brands up 29.6 per cent to 98.3 million.
Altria estimates that after adjusting for trade inventory changes, USSTC and PM USA's combined shipments for both the three- and nine-month periods were up by about 10 per cent.
And USSTC estimates that, overall, the US smokeless category's volume grew at about seven per cent during the three- and nine-month periods.
USSTC and PM USA's combined share of the domestic retail market during the nine months to the end of September, at 55.6 per cent, was up by 0.9 of a percentage point on that of their share during the first nine months of 2009.
Copenhagen's share rose by 2.3 percentage points to 25.6 per cent, Skoal's share fell by 1.1 percentage points to 22.7 per cent, and the share of the companies' other brands fell by 0.3 of a percentage point to 7.3 per cent.
Middleton's reported domestic cigar volume shipments for the three months to the end of September, at 338 million, were down by 0.8 per cent on those of the three months to the end of September 2009.
Within this total, shipments of Black & Mild fell by 0.2 per cent to 332 million.
During the nine months to the end of September, cigar shipments, at 943 million, were down by 1.4 per cent, with shipments of Black & Mild down 0.8 per cent to 924 million.
After adjusting for changes in trade inventories, Middleton's shipment volumes for the three- and nine-months periods were estimated to be down four per cent and three per cent respectively. Middleton estimates that, overall, the US machine-made large cigars category's volume grew by about two per cent during the third quarter of 2010.
Middleton's share of the retail market during the nine months to the end of September, at 28.7 per cent, was down by 1.5 percentage points, while Black & Mild's share fell by 1.3 percentage points to 28.3 per cent.
Altria's 2010 reported diluted earnings per share were up by 28.6 per cent to $0.54 during the third quarter and up by 20.2 per cent to $1.43 during the first nine months, versus the prior-year periods.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share were up by 12.5 per cent to $0.54 during the third quarter and up by 6.6 per cent to $1.46 during the first nine months.
The company's cigarette segment's third-quarter operating companies' income was up by 15.0 per cent to $1.5 billion on a reported basis and up by 9.0 per cent to $1.6 billion on an adjusted basis.
Its smokeless product segment's third-quarter operating companies' income was up 65.4 per cent to $210 million on a reported basis and up by 36.5 per cent to $213 million on an adjusted basis.
"The Altria family of companies delivered excellent financial results in the third quarter of 2010, as adjusted diluted earnings per share in the quarter grew by 12.5 per cent versus the comparable year-ago period," said Michael E. Szymanczyk, chairman and CEO of Altria.
"This strong third-quarter earnings per share growth builds on our solid business results from the first half of the year.
"Through the first nine months of 2010, our adjusted earnings per share are up 6.6 per cent, giving us confidence that we can achieve our earnings per share growth objective for the year." Enditem
