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• UPDATE 4-UST profit lifted by extra tobacco shipping day 

UST Inc. UST.N , the top U.S. maker of moist smokeless tobacco, on Tuesday posted a higher first-quarter profit, boosted by an extra shipping day for its tobacco, and maintained its forecast for the year.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based company ships tobacco products like Copenhagen only once a week, on Mondays, so an extra shipping day can cause a notable improvement in results.

UST said domestic industry shipments from wholesalers to retailers were weaker in recent weeks as armed forces stationed in the United States, particularly reservists, headed to the Middle East. Members of the military tend to use smokeless tobacco products more than the broad adult population, and the data only track U.S. retail shipments, the company said.

UST said its smokeless tobacco sales to the military jumped 95 percent, or 3.1 million cans, in the first quarter, including 2.2 million cans shipped to Kuwait via emergency airfreight. The president of UST's U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. estimated that about 1 percent to 2 percent of its consumer base has been temporarily relocated abroad due to troop movement.

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