UPDATE: Philip Morris Posts Upbeat Q2 Results

Philip Morris International PM reported better-than-expected second-quarter results. The New York-based company posted its quarterly earnings of $1.85 billion, or $1.17 per share, versus $2.12 billion, or $1.30 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings rose 8.5% to $1.41 per share. Its revenue fell 1.5% to $7.8 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.24 per share on revenue of $7.521 billion. Net revenue fell 14.2% to $2.3 billion in the Asia region, while net revenue dropped 3.3% to $810 million in the Latin America & Canada region. Philip Morris' cigarette shipment volumes declined 2.7% to 222.8 billion units. The total cigarette market in the EU declined 1.2% to 120.4 billion units. In France, the total cigarette market decreased 4.6% to 11.8 billion units, while cigarette market in Germany increased 6.4% to 20.9 billion units. The company's press release offered the following comment from André Calantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer: “As we expected, we achieved strong fundamental results in the second quarter, driven by a lower volume decline, strong pricing and robust market share." The company also affirmed its forecast for 2014. Philip Morris shares gained 0.13% to close at $84.70 yesterday.