NEW YORK -- Record Marlboro cigarette shipments and sales, the successful introduction of Red Dog beer from Miller and retail share increases in 18 of its top 20 food businesses enabled Philip Morris Cos. here to produce double-digit earnings increases for its 1995 first quarter.
of 46%, up 2.9 share points from a year ago. Marlboro shipment share rose 3.7 points to 29.6%, also a record, while shipment volume for Marlboro rose 9.0% to 32.6 billion cigarettes. Also, premium-priced cigarettes continued to claim a greater share of the market, and now account for 82.2% of Philip Morris' shipments, a gain of three percentage points from last year.
Operating income at the Miller Brewing Co. subsidiary climbed 10.7% to $1 billion. Volume for the quarter rose slightly to 10.9 million barrels. Shipments of Miller's premium-priced beers climbed 2.1% and now account for 80% of the company's volume. The company attributed much of the gains to the successful launch of Red Dog, which is still in its first year.
Revenues from North American Food operations were $4.4 billion, an increase of 4.2%, while operating income rose 6.8% to $676 million. Among its Kraft Foods grocery products showing substantial gains were Jell-O, Lender's bagels, Capri Sun fruit drinks, new Crystal Light ready-to-drink beverages, Tombstone and Jack's frozen pizzas, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese dinners and Kraft and Bull's-Eye barbecue sauces.
"We're off to a resounding start in 1995," Geoffrey C. Bible, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Tobacco has never been stronger, and our food and beer businesses continue to provide solidly higher profits. Given the enormous global potential of each of these businesses, and the strides they made this quarter, I believe we can keep the earnings momentum going."
