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Lorillard 4Q profit falls on higher costs 

Lorillard Inc. said Monday that its fourth-quarter profit fell as the maker of Newport cigarettes faced higher manufacturing costs and other expenses.

Wholesale cigarette shipments slipped about 4 percent for both the quarter and the year. Still, the cigarette maker said its full-year decline was smaller than the 8.6 percent dropoff that was the industry average.

The nation's third-largest cigarette company's earnings dropped 6 percent to $242 million, or $1.52 per share. This narrowly beat the $1.51-per-share estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. These estimates usually take out one-time items.

Lorillard, whose other brands include Kent, True and Maverick, reported a profit of $258 million, or $1.53 per share, a year earlier.

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