Lorillard announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015. Net sales increased by $76 million, or 4.8%, to $1.668 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
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This is due to a 6.4% increase in net sales of cigarettes, partially offset by a decrease in net sales of electronic cigarettes.
Reported diluted earnings per share increased $0.02, or 2.7%, to $0.76 in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased $0.13, or 18.8%, to $0.82 in the first quarter of 2015, due to the strong operating performance in the Cigarettes segment and the impact of share repurchases in prior quarters. As detailed in the reconciliation table, adjusted diluted earnings per share excludes accrued costs related to Engle Progeny cases, accrued costs related to the Zippo litigation and other special items.
Cigarette net sales increased $99 million, or 6.4%, to $1.640 billion in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $1.541 billion in the first quarter of 2014. The increase in cigarette net sales resulted from higher average net cigarette selling prices as well as higher cigarette unit sales volume.
Total Lorillard wholesale cigarette unit volume, which includes Puerto Rico and U.S. Possessions, increased 3.1% for the first quarter of 2015 compared to the corresponding period of 2014. Puerto Rico and U.S. Possessions increased 6.5% compared to the year ago period.
Domestic wholesale cigarette unit volume, which excludes Puerto Rico and U.S. Possessions, increased 3.0% for the first quarter of 2015 compared to the corresponding period of 2014. The Company estimates total cigarette industry domestic wholesale shipments increased approximately 0.5% for the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014, marking a meaningful improvement in trend versus the first half of 2014.
Net sales for the Electronic Cigarettes segment were $28 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, compared to $51 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.
The decline in sales of blu eCigs in the U.S. versus year ago reflects a decrease in unit volume, partly offset by the launch of the blu PLUS+ product line described below. The decrease in unit volume is attributed to competitors' national product launches accompanied by aggressive promotional programs. ■