Altria Profits From Higher Prices Even as Smoking Rates Drop
- Company is raising prices and cutting costs to boost profit
- Revenue falls short of expectations in latest quarter
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For Altria Group Inc., more expensive cigarettes have proven key to maintaining growth as tobacco volumes decline.
The tobacco giant, which sells Marlboro products in the U.S., posted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates in the latest quarter -- even as smoking rates continue to fall. Price increases helped to balance declining sales volumes of combustible and noncombustible tobacco products in the period.