R.J. Reynolds Posts $3.45-Billion Loss

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. reported a $3.45-billion quarterly loss as it took a big restructuring charge, but its shares jumped 13% as investors applauded its plan to buy the U.S. unit of rival British American Tobacco.

The plan to combine RJR’s main operations with British American’s Brown & Williamson would create a larger No. 2 player in the United States behind Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA, which controls nearly half the market.

RJR said its third-quarter net loss was $3.45 billion, or $41.31 a share, compared with a profit of $139 million, or $1.56, a year earlier. Sales fell almost 13% to $1.38 billion and shipments fell 11.9%.

Shares of RJR rose $5.72, or 13.2%, to $48.97 on the New York Stock Exchange; British American’s shares that trade on the American Stock Exchange jumped 13% to $24.89.

From Reuters