Philip Morris International, the former non-American unit of Altria, the group behind Marlboro cigarettes, reported a better-than-expected 23 per cent jump in second-quarter profits.

The company, which was spun out of Altria in March and also sells the L&M, Bond Street, Chesterfield and Lark brands, announced a $1.82 billion profit for the second quarter, as price increases helped push up group revenue by 15 per cent to $6.71 billion.

The profit equates to $0.86-a-share, slightly ahead of the analyst consensus estimate of $0.83. Philip Morris International increased its prediction for its full-year profit from $3.32-$3.38-a-share, to between $3.18 and $3.24, as a result of its stronger-than-expected second-quarter figures.

Louis Camilleri, chairman and chief executive, said Philip Morris "witnessed continuing business momentum, demonstrated by an increase in organic volume, solid growth in net revenues and strong income performance."

Philip Morris managed to increase sales by 15 per cent and profit by 20 per cent in the European Union, despite a 3.7 per cent decline in the region’s market during the second quarter as people reacted to indoor public smoking restrictions in the UK, France, Germany and Portugal.

Second-quarter sales in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa jumped by 19 per cent and profits by 28 per cent. In Latin America and Asia profits jumped by 44 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.

Altria spun off Philip Morris after doing the same to its Kraft Foods subsidiary a year earlier. The move was designed to liberate the group’s expanding cigarette businesses in Asia and Eastern Europe from its struggling US unit, which has been hit by falling demand from American consumers and by costly litigation.

Philip Morris International’s total cigarette shipment volume was 223.2 billion in the second quarter, a 1 per cent rise on the year earlier period. Of these, 64.8 billion went to the European Union, 78.3 billion to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 56.8 billion to Asia. A further 22.3 billion were shipped to Latin America.

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