April 29 (Reuters) -

Tobacco company Altria ( MO ) on Tuesday beat first-quarter

profit estimates but flagged an $873 million impairment at its

e-cigarette business, where shipments dropped 70% amid a patent

dispute.

Rising demand for its smoking alternatives, such as on!

nicotine pouches and NJOY vapes, helped the company counter the

impact from lost cigarette sales as smokers shift away from

traditional tobacco products.

However, its efforts to transition revenues away from

tobacco have been fraught, with the latest setback being a block

on the imports of its NJOY ACE vapes as part of a patent dispute

with e-cigarette rival Juul Labs.

Altria ( MO ), which also makes Marlboro cigarettes, said it booked

the hefty non-cash impairment on its e-cigarette division as a

result and that shipments of the device had dropped after it

stopped importing NJOY ACE on March 24.

The company said its full-year forecast assumes that

NJOY will not return to the U.S. market this year.

The impairment dragged reported diluted earnings per

share down almost 48% for the first quarter.

However, the company's adjusted quarterly profit came in at

$1.23 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.19 per

share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Altria ( MO ) expects a 2% to 5% increase in its adjusted earnings

per share for the full year, representing a range of $5.30 to

$5.45 per share, compared with the rebased figures for 2024.

Net revenue for the quarter ended March 31 fell 5.7% to

$5.26 billion, topping estimates of $4.60 billion.

Quarterly shipment volume for cigarettes in the smokeable

products segment fell 13.7%, compared with a 10% decline a year

ago.

The shipment volume for on! nicotine pouches rose 18% for

the first quarter.

Shares of the company were down about 2% in premarket

trading.