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Philip Morris third-quarter profit beats estimates


    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Marlboro cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by price increases and a weak U.S. dollar.

    The company, which was spun off from Altria Group Inc earlier this year, also maintained its full-year earnings forecast.

    Third-quarter profit rose to $2.08 billion, or $1.01 a share, from $1.73 billion, or 82 cents a share, a year earlier. The 2007 figures are pro forma, as the company was still part of Altria at that time.

    Excluding one-time items, earnings were 93 cents a share, the company said. On that basis, analysts on average had forecast 89 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

    Sales, excluding excise taxes, rose 17.5 percent to $7 billion, helped by price increases and the weaker dollar. Analysts were expecting $6.6 billion.

    The number of cigarettes the company shipped rose 4 percent to 225.9 billion.

    Philip Morris International stood by its 2008 earnings estimate of $3.32 to $3.38 a share. Analysts on average forecast $3.34.

    (Reporting by Brad Dorfman; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)