Altria Group Inc. is seeing tobacco users switch between multiple forms of tobacco more often, Vice Chairman Dave Beran said on Wednesday.
The company, best known for its Marlboro cigarettes, is encouraged by the early sales of its new Marlboro Black brand, said Beran, who is set to become Altria's president and chief operating officer in May.
Marlboro Black, which Altria's Philip Morris USA unit began shipping in December, had over 1 percent retail market share earlier this month, Beran told analysts and investors at the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York, or CAGNY, conference held in Boca Raton, Fla.
Shares of Altria, whose other products include Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco and Black & Mild cigars, rose 2 cents to $29.64 in early morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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