At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Universal Corporation's fiscal year 2008 result conference call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. Ms. Whelan, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, and thank you all for joining us today. Hart Roper, our Chief Financial Officer, is here with me, and he will join me in answering questions after these brief remarks. This call is being webcast live and will be available on our website and on telephone-taped replay. It will remain on our website until August 42008. If you are listening to this call after that date or if you are reading a transcription, we have not authorized such recording or transcription. It has been made available to you without our permission, review, or approval, and we take no responsibility for such presentation. Any transcription inaccuracies or omissions or failure to present available updates are the responsibility of the party who is providing it to you. Before I begin to discuss our results, I caution you that we will be making forward-looking statements that are based on our current knowledge and some assumptions about the future events. I urge you to read our 10-K for the year March 31, 2007 for information on some of the factors that can affect our estimates. Those factors can include such things as customer-mandated timing of shipments, weather conditions, political and economic environment, changes in currency, and changes in market structure or sources. Finally, some of the information I have for you today is based on un-audited allocations and is subject to reclassification. We plan to file our 10-K next week and so you should also look for that. We will only discuss continuing operations today. We had good year despite of a decline in the fourth quarter results. That decline was due in large part to earlier shipments this year that benefited our first three quarters. Our continuing operations earned $9.9 million for the quarter and that is $0.23 a diluted share,…

(Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line of Ann Gurkin.

Hi Ann. How are you? Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: I am fine. How are you? I want to start to see outlook, as we go into '09, you talk about this continued work. Do you think it is possible to generate improved operating margin in '09 versus '08?

Well, as you know, margin is so affected by the price of grain, and the price of grain is going up. So if we pass through that grain side, our margins would -- the calculation, they would go down. So you are asking whether we can pass through more than the grain side, and I do not know how to answer that question. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: About how are your negotiations going in South America with customers.

Oh, we are not finished yet. I mean, our customers know what is going on in the world. They understand and appreciate but agricultural products, the prices are going up and that tobacco is not the only crop that farmers can grow. So, we are working on it. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Okay, well my next question is, I am hearing more and more comments that farmers are at a great risk to divert land to grow other crops, so…?

I am sorry Ann, your call is breaking up a bit. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: I hear more and more comments that farmers are considering diverting more of their lands from growing tobacco to other crops. So how do you keep your farmer base intact in these South American regions?

Well, I think, we need to continue to provide the economic incentive to farmer to continue to do this. Tobacco has long been a good crop in developing worlds. They require some expertise to grow, it is not easy to grow, that is fairly labor intensive. So, we are working very hard to keep the farmers with the crop. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Okay, the $8 million number you accrued in Malawi, is that in your $9.6 million number or is that a separate number?

Its separate. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Its separate, okay. My next question is over the past year, we have seen an increase in production of Dark Air-Cured tobacco in the US. What is the risk that we go into an over supply of production of this kind of tobacco?

Of Dark Air-Cured? Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Of Dark Air-Cured

Not likely. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Okay.

At this time, I mean, that supply in that market is still fairly tight. So it is the same as anything else. Answering a tight supply could push you into over supply but its going to much smaller areas, in much smaller quantities. So I would not see a near term risk of that. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Okay, can you give a update on worldwide uncommitted least inventory number?

I do. We have a total excluding the Asian monopoly, flue cured and burley of about 30 million kilos. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Combined?

Combined. Ann Gurkin - Davenport & Company LLC: Okay. That is all I have. Thanks.

Your next question comes from the line of Chris Dechiario.

Hi Chris.

Hi. How are you doing? I noticed there was a large drop in customer advances in the last fiscal year and in this fiscal year, I was just wondering what the reasons for that is? Is there a some fundamental shift in the way the business is done or is it the timing or…?

Well I think there is a number of things Chris. We had substantial cash balances and our customers had helped us through the hard times, when our debt was very high before we sold the daily. We thank them a great deal for that, but additional advances, we felt we no longer needed, they do still pre-pay us and that is a seasonal KIND OF thing. It depends on the circumstance. So, that is a mutual agreement to do that.

Okay. So that is all things being equal, what I should really expect going forward?

Yes, I would think that you should see a seasonal variation. I mean, depending on the timing you could see a coming in output. However, on the whole, we would expect them to be lower.

Okay.When you look at fiscal 2008 as a whole, what are the major material things, you can expect, that you can tell will be different in fiscal 2009 other than improved burly volumes and let us say, no carryover shipments. Is there anything else that is missing that you would expect to be largely different in fiscal 2009 than fiscal 2008?

That is a good question. Certainly, the currency continues to move, the dollar continues to weaken, the cost factors that see this year would be exacerbated, of course we are all in that same boat together, so it does not matter what products you are buying, whether its oil or agriculture products around the world.

The other one thing that is a little difficult to measure in terms of what the impact will be on next year is the change in model of special services. Then we have had for number of years have been providing just-in-time inventory services to customers and did well with it, but the model has run its course. So the tobacco was still be supplied to customers, it is going to be supplied directly from origin as opposed to special group that provided that service. It is difficult for us to estimate what the impact of that will be on comparison.

Got it, so you mean it difficult to estimate the -- it is difficult to quantify it, or is just directionally you have things that would be different?

Timing, I think probably more than any thing.

Okay, thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of Dax Vlassis.

Hi Dax, how are you?

Good, how are you doing? My first questions with respect to your comment about the inventories in the African operations, and that they are very low and the carryover shipments that we saw in fiscal 2008 might now take place in fiscal 2009, can you give us a little help on the magnitude of that, I mean is that $5 million in operating income benefit, is that $10 million, is it $2 million, can you just help us with what benefit in carry-over you got this year that will not take place in '09?

Dax Vlassis I do not have, Dax I do not have a number. It was the first quarter last year, where we had a benefit from carry-over shipments, and it was significant enough to talk about. I would say, you know, a number like 10 million would be shocking for anything like that.

Okay. As far as the customer advances, I understand that they are declining because you are in a better financial position than previously. Do you get a benefit on pricing? Is that an economic package that you negotiate where if they provide advances, higher advances they get better pricing during that period, and if they are not providing it, then the opposite would be true?

No. We talked about carrying charges on inventory passing through. So, if they pre-finance, then they are not paying carrying charges on the inventory, so it is pretty much a straight pass through. It should not affect anything, except maybe timing.

We look at it like short-term debt, short-term bank debt. I mean, we switch back and forth between them based on what the customer decides to do, or in recent times because of our cash balances, we just used the cash.

Okay. If I look at the inventory year-over-year, obviously it is up in dollar value, but can you comment on directionally, the magnitude of the volume? I assume that the volume is down substantially year-over-year, is that fair?.

Yes, certainly uncommitted it is down year-over-year. I think total is that, what you are seeing is the effect of currency on that.

What about green leaf tobacco prices?

Green leaf tobacco prices are up, both organically and because of currency. So, that is probably the biggest single factor in why that balance is up, otherwise it would be down.

The two areas of the world are that buying, our buying tobacco at March are Brazil and Europe. Strong real, strong reais and a strong euro relative to the dollar.

Okay, if I look at the business from a working capital source and usage, how would you characterize, because it is difficult with all the moving pieces, how would you characterize your current position and whether that would be a significant use or flat or benefit in the coming year?

Now, I would expect about everything when you cut off at March 31, it is a point and time and if we buy our Brazilian inventory a little earlier, or a little later, you can have a big apparent swing, which would not have any meaning. It is just the timing of the purchase that is, but I would expect that during the year, buying our inventory and servicing our business is going to take a lot more cash this year. Presumably we saw that and it comes back to us so that we can fund next year, but the weakness of the dollar and the cost of agricultural product, I think it is going to take a lot more capital this year.

You are talking this year as far as the crop season?

Yes, a seasonal money.

All right

You buy inventory, you sell it comes back and you are ready to buy the next one.

Understood, and what do you expect CapEx to be in the coming fiscal year?

We have taken the pledge to stay below depreciation.

It is pretty much there.

I mean, depreciation is running in the $40 million range.

Actually I have one more question on the – what about, it looks like you had a fairly significant asset sale in the quarter is that correct?

Timberland. It was surplus land that we had in Brazil.

What was the cash benefit to that in the quarter?

Well there is a gain of $6 million.

Right, but how much do you receive in proceeds?

Dax, I would guess 8.

Okay. Okay, thank you very much.

Your next question comes from the line of Steve Marascia.

Hi, Steve how are you? Steve Marascia - Anderson & Strudwick: A couple of easy questions for you. Given the recent currency bounce that we have had in US dollar, how was that translated against the other currencies in the country that you deal with? First half, then I will give you my second question after that.

Well Brazil, of course is, we have two factors going on, one is the general weakness of the US dollar against many currencies and the other is the strength of the Brazilian currency against the rest of the world. So, I think that is probably the biggest single area. US dollar is generally weak against all currencies. Steve Marascia - Anderson & Strudwick: Has it rebounded enough recently towards made impact, projections going forward?

Not in the areas where we are buying tobacco, no. Steve Marascia - Anderson & Strudwick: Okay, and secondly and finally any, can you lay out your debt reduction plans for this year, upcoming year.

We actually do not have any this year. Steve Marascia - Anderson & Strudwick: Okay

We paid off $164 million of long-term debt that came due last year. So what we have now, there are no balances due. The short-term debt is located in areas that we can not efficiently fund from here. So we do not see any reductions. Steve Marascia - Anderson & Strudwick: Would the current credit crunch in the market place cause you any problems with the refunding of the short-term paper in any way, shape or form?

We have committed bank line and lots of uncommitted lines and still working on our cash. Although, we would expect to use our cash balances to fund this season. Steve Marascia - Anderson & Strudwick: Okay. Thank you very much.

(Operator Instructions) There are no further questions at this time.

Okay. I would like to thank everybody again for being on the call, and also to assess a note our CEO Allen King has retired, from that office as CEO at the end of the fiscal year. We greatly appreciate his contribution to our success and we wish him well. Our new President and CEO is George Freeman and we look forward to introducing him to those of you who have not met him, over the next year. Thank you, very much.

Thank you for participating in today's Universal Corporation fiscal year 2008 results conference call. This concludes today's conference you may disconnect at this time.