Lorillard posts 4Q profit of $327 million, result tops expectations

Lorillard Inc. (LO) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $327 million.

On a per-share basis, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based company said it had profit of 91 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 93 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 92 cents per share.

The tobacco company posted revenue of $1.28 billion in the period.

For the year, the company reported profit of $1.19 billion, or $3.28 per share. Revenue was reported as $5.05 billion.

Lorillard shares have increased roughly 7 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has stayed nearly flat. The stock has increased 35 percent in the last 12 months.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap ) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on LO at http://www.zacks.com/ap/LO

_____

Keywords: Lorillard, Earnings Report