Sales volume at Philip Morris USA dipped 0.7 per cent in the second quarter as an increase for Marlboro was offset by declines in the company’s other premium brands and discount cigarettes.

Marlboro volume rose 1.1 per cent to 31.6 billion units in the three months prior to July, parent company Altria said in a statement. Volume for other premium brands and the discounts fell 600,000 units to 4.6 billion units. Marlboro’s market percentage at 42.6 per cent was nearly unchanged from the prior second quarter.
Operating companies income (OCI) dipped 0.3 percentage points to 39.7 per cent of sales in the second quarter, or USD 1.54 billion. Cigarette OCI includes a USD 36 million charge stemming from a Louisiana court case, Altria said. Sales gained 3.6 per cent to USD 3.88 billion. Six-month sales at USD 7.28 billion yielded an adjusted OCI of 39.6 per cent (USD 2.98 billion), which was one percentage point higher than the comparable reporting period in 2010.
“The cigarette segment delivered solid adjusted OCI growth with strong adjusted OCI margins in the second quarter and first half of 2011 behind Marlboro’s performance,” the company said. (ci)