Reynolds American Earnings Beat Estimates

Source from:  Reuters 10/22/2010

* Reynolds EPS $1.35 ex-items vs Street view $1.34 * Cigarette volume 20.1 bln, down 2.6 pct NEW YORK Oct 21 (Reuters) - Reynolds American Inc (RAI.N), the second-largest U.S. tobacco company, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by market share gains in brands like Camel cigarettes. Reynolds, which makes Camel cigarettes and Grizzly smokeless tobacco, said profit was $381 million, or $1.30 per share, in the quarter, compared with $362 million, or $1.24 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings were $1.35 a share, 1 cent above the average analyst estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Reynolds expects full-year earnings per share, excluding one-time items, of $4.95 to $5.05, narrowed from a previous forecast of $4.90 to $5.05. The company shipped 20.1 billion cigarettes in the quarter, down 2.6 percent from a year earlier. Enditem