	american brands amb sees higher st qtr net american brands inc said it expects first quarter net ings to exceed the record mln dlrs or dlrs a share it ed for the year ago quarter the company also said it believes sales in the first quarter will surpass record sales of billion dlrs last year the company said unit sales of american tobacco s lucky strike filter line rose pct last year which led to a gain for he lucky franchise american brands said it will introduce a new low priced brand of cigarettes called malibu the company s u k based gallaher ltd unit had a strong performance in and became the second largest contributor to operating ings american brands said reuter 
