Altria Net EPS Falls, But Adjusted Earnings Beat Views

Altria Group Inc. [s:mo] shares fell 1.5% in thin premarket trade after the company reported a drop in first-quarter per-share profit on Thursday. Altria cited lower per-share earnings from its equity investment in SABMiller, as the brewer felt the weight of a stronger U.S. dollar. Altria's first-quarter earnings were $1.02 billion, or 52 cents a share, compared with $1.18 billion, or 59 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Altria, the owner of tobacco giant Philip Morris, said sales were $5.8 billion, up from $5.52 billion a year ago. Adjusted earnings for the most recent period were 63 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 62 cents a share. Altria also backed its forecast for 2015 adjusted earnings of $2.75 to $2.80 a share.