Cigarette company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc on Tuesday posted a 72 percent jump in first-quarter profit and raised its full-year earnings forecast as recent restructuring efforts paid off.
The company's shares were up about 5 percent in morning New York Stock Exchange trading as the earnings easily surpassed Wall Street expectations.
R.J. Reynolds, whose R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co unit makes Camel and Salem cigarettes, said it earned $122 million, or $1.43 per share, compared with $71 million, or 84 cents, a year earlier.
Analysts expected Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based R.J. Reynolds to earn 91 cents to $1.08 per share, with a mean target of 97 cents, according to Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc. R.J. Reynolds said its restructuring, announced in September, was progressing well, and it now expects cost savings of about $450 million in 2004, compared with the previous estimate of $400 million.
As a result, it raised its full-year earnings forecast to a range of $405 million to $435 million, with earnings per share of $4.75 to $5.10.