By Rob Curran

Altria Group's first-quarter net income and revenue fell amid an e-cigarette patent dispute, and as cigarette sales continued to dwindle but the company backed a prior profit forecast for the year on growing demand for alternative tobacco products.

The maker of Marlboro cigarettes posted earnings of $1.08 billion, or 63 cents a share, down from $2.13 billion, or $1.21 a share, a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $1.23 a share, topping the mean analyst estimate of $1.19 a share, according to FactSet.

Revenue fell 5.7% to $5.26 billion, far surpassing the average analyst target of $4.62 billion. Falling sales of conventional cigarettes and Black-and-Mild cigars continued to weigh. Cigarette shipment volume fell 14% in what Altria said was an industry-wide trend, exacerbated by competition from what it called illicit e-cigarettes. Black-and-Mild sales fell 2.9% to $405 million.

Revenue from oral tobacco products, which includes products such as Copenhagen moist tobacco, ticked up 0.5% to $654 million.

Altria booked an $873 million goodwill charge related to an International Trade Commission ban on the import of NJoy's ACE products, deemed to infringe former Altria affiliate Juul Labs' copyright. In 2023, Altria offloaded its stake in e-cigarette maker Juul Labs in exchange for patents, and bought out another e-cigarette maker, NJoy. NJoy's unit shipments rose 24% to 13.5 million in the latest period, Altria said.

For 2025, the company forecast adjusted earnings in a range between $5.30 and $5.45 a share. That's higher than a previous estimate of $5.22 and $5.37 a share, but the company said the change reflected a technical accounting matter involving amortization of intangible assets.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2025 07:28 ET (11:28 GMT)

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