Tag: Altria Group

  • Altria Elects Kathryn McQuade as Board Chair

    Altria Elects Kathryn McQuade as Board Chair

    Photo: Jakub Jirsák | Dreamstime.com

    Altria Group’s board of directors has elected Kathryn B. McQuade to serve as the independent chair of the board effective upon the conclusion of Altria’s 2021 annual meeting of shareholders on May 20, 2021.

    “I am thrilled with Kathryn’s selection to be Altria’s next independent board chair,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO, in a statement. “I believe that her significant expertise, including in finance, business strategy and working within regulated industries, will help advance our focus on moving beyond smoking.”

    McQuade, who joined the board in 2012, will be the first woman to serve as Altria’s chair of the board and will oversee a board on which more than 72 percent of its members are women or racially or ethnically diverse.

    “I am honored to take on the role of independent board chair for Altria,” said McQuade. “I look forward to continuing to work with the board and Altria’s dedicated leadership team in pursuit of its vision.”

    McQuade served as senior advisor of Canadian Pacific Railway, a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States, from November 2012 to May 2013, after previously serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Canadian Pacific from September 2008 until her retirement in November 2012.

    McQuade joined Canadian Pacific in June 2007 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining Canadian Pacific, McQuade served as executive vice president-planning and chief information officer at Norfolk Southern Corp. where she spent 27 years in key information technology, strategic planning and finance leadership positions.

    McQuade serves as chair of the nominating, corporate governance and social responsibility committee and is a member of the audit, compensation and talent development and executive committees.

    Altria’s former independent board chairman, Thomas F. Farrell II, passed away in April 2021. He had planned to retire following completion of his current term and was not standing for reelection to the board at the 2021 annual meeting of shareholders.

  • Altria Reports First-Quarter 2021 Results

    Altria Reports First-Quarter 2021 Results

    Photo: Kristina Blokhin

    Altria Group reported net revenues of $6.03 billion in the first quarter of 2021, down 5.1 percent from the comparable 2020 quarter. The decline was driven primarily by lower net revenues in the smokable products segment.

    Net revenues net of excise taxes were $4.88 billion, 3.3 percent lower than in last year’s quarter. Reported diluted earnings per share declined 7.2 percent to $0.77, primarily driven by losses on early extinguishment of debt from a debt liability management transaction, a decrease in the estimated fair value of Altria’s investment in Juul and higher acquisition-related costs, partially offset by higher reported operating companies’ income (in the wine segment and favorable Cronos-related and ABI-related special items).

    “We are off to a strong start to the year and believe our businesses are on track to deliver against full-year plans. Against a challenging comparison, our tobacco businesses performed well in the first quarter and we continued to make progress advancing our noncombustible portfolio,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO, in a statement.

    “This morning, we announced another important milestone in Altria’s journey in ‘moving beyond smoking.’ We now have full global ownership of On! oral nicotine pouches as we recently closed transactions to acquire the remaining 20 percent global interest.”

    “We would like to honor the memory of Tom Farrell, our late chairman of the board. Tom served 13 distinguished years on our board, offered valuable insights and guidance during his tenure and was a true visionary. We will miss his leadership, contributions and friendship.”

    In March, Altria Group announced that Thomas F. Farrell II would retire from the company’s board of directors following the completion of his current term. Farrell has been a director of Altria since 2008.

  • Altria, Juul Likely to Face Suit Over Deal

    Altria, Juul Likely to Face Suit Over Deal

    Photo: jessica45 | Pixabay

    Altria Group and Juul Labs will likely face a proposed antitrust action seeking to unwind a $12.8 billion deal that gave the tobacco giant a 35 percent stake in the vapor company, reports Bloomberg Law, citing a “tentative” ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco.

    Judge William H. Orrick indicated Wednesday that he’s inclined to let most of the lawsuit move forward in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where it was consolidated after dozens of antitrust plaintiffs sued over deal clauses calling for Altria’s exit from the vaping market.

    The Federal Trade Commission has also sued over the Altria-Juul transaction.

  • Thomas Farrell to Retire From Altria Board

    Thomas Farrell to Retire From Altria Board

    Photo: Altria Group

    Thomas F. Farrell II will retire from Altria Group’s board of directors following the completion of his current term. Farrell has been a director of Altria since 2008.

    Consequently, Farrell will not stand for re-election to the board at Altria’s 2021 annual meeting of shareholders, which is presently scheduled for May 20, 2021. The board will evaluate board leadership succession and intends to appoint a new chairman at its organizational meeting following the 2021 annual meeting.

    Farrell is the chairman of the board, chair of the executive committee and a member of the compensation and talent development and nominating, corporate governance and social responsibility committees.

    Tom’s contributions over the past 13 years have been immeasurable.

    Billy Gifford, CEO, Altria Group

    He has served as the executive chairman of Dominion Energy, one of largest producers of energy in the U.S., since October 2020, having previously served as chairman, president and CEO of Dominion from 2007 through September 2020.  

    “Tom’s contributions over the past 13 years have been immeasurable,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO, in a statement. “We thank him for his distinguished service and wish him the very best.”

  • FDA Asked to Help Correct Misperceptions

    FDA Asked to Help Correct Misperceptions

    Photo: Martinmark | Dreamstime.com

    The Altria Group has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for help in convincing Americans that nicotine isn’t linked to cancer. In a letter to the regulatory agency, the maker of IQOS and Juul products asked for the FDA to assist in combatting misperceptions about nicotine as part of a proposed $100 million advertising campaign to reduce the harm caused by tobacco.

    According to a letter seen by Bloomberg, Altria writes that nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults incorrectly believe nicotine causes cancer, citing government research. Clearing up the drug’s health risks will be key to the agency reducing smoking combustible cigarettes because it will help convince cigarette users to switch to noncombustible options for nicotine, the company said.

    While there are at least 60 carcinogens in cigarette smoke, nicotine isn’t the direct cause of many of smoking’s ills. The drug has even been touted as a way to ease tension and sharpen the mind. But nicotine is the ingredient that addicts people to tobacco products, and it has risks, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

    The FDA “should commit resources and expertise to correct the deeply entrenched public misperceptions regarding the health risks of nicotine,” Paige Magness, Altria’s senior vice president of regulatory affairs, said in the letter dated Feb. 25. Such a campaign would help the agency by getting more smokers to use noncombustible offerings that “may present lower health risk,” according to the letter.

    The FDA declined to comment, according to Bloomberg.

  • Altria Reaffirms Full-Year Guidance

    Altria Reaffirms Full-Year Guidance

    Photo: Altria

    Altria Group has reaffirmed its guidance for 2021 full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) to be in a range of $4.49 to $4.62, representing a growth rate of 3 percent to 6 percent from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $4.36 in 2020.

    Speaking at the virtual Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference on Feb. 17, CEO Billy Gifford, and CFO Sal Mancuso discussed how Altria is “moving beyond smoking,” advancing its 10-year vision and continuing to focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives to create long-term shareholder value through sustainability.

    “The pursuit of our vision is about sustainability and businesses that are aligned with the responsibility expectations of our stakeholders,” said Gifford. “We have an unmatched portfolio of noncombustible products in the U.S. market today that we’re rapidly expanding, we’re investing in research and development on innovative noncombustible products and we believe we can continue to deliver significant value for our shareholders while moving beyond smoking.”

    In its presentation, Altria announced its new corporate responsibility focus areas and shared examples of its continued ESG leadership. Altria published the first in a series of corporate responsibility progress reports: Engage and Lead Responsibly. This report details Altria’s new 2025 corporate responsibility goals.

  • Perfect Score for Altria on Equality Index

    Perfect Score for Altria on Equality Index

    Photo: Altria

    Altria Group received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a prominent benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Altria joins the ranks of 767 major U.S. businesses, including Reynolds American Inc., that also earned top marks this year. This is the fourth year in a row Altria has received a score of 100.

    “We know that to be successful in our 10-year vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a noncombustible future, we need to be a diverse, inclusive and welcoming place to work,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO, in a statement. “This recognition is a testament to our employees and Mosaic, our LGBTQ employee resource group, who continuously work to ensure that our LGBTQ colleagues are included and have equal opportunity to grow and thrive.”

    The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: nondiscrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and, corporate social responsibility. Altria’s efforts in meeting all of the CEI’s criteria earned a 100 percent ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

  • FTC Staff Urges Timely Start of Altria Trial

    FTC Staff Urges Timely Start of Altria Trial

    Photo: Paul Brady – Dreamstime.com

    U.S. Federal Trade Commission staffers urged the commission to start its trial against Altria Group’s $12.8 billion investment in Juul Labs in April as scheduled, reports Law360.

    The cigarette giant had requested a three-month delay from the current April 12 start, speculating that it will be safe to hold an in-person trial by mid-July. The current April trial will be virtual due to the Covid-19 crisis. The trial was previously moved from Jan. 5 to mid-April because of the pandemic. Altria and Juul said a virtual hearing would diminish their attorneys’ ability to assess the credibility of the testifying witnesses.

    In a filing Thursday to the agency’s commissioners, the FTC’s trial staff said that hopes for an in-person, Covid-free proceeding by July are “highly speculative.”

    “While the vaccine news is promising, the timetable for the chief administrative law judge and his staff, witnesses and counsel to receive vaccinations is highly uncertain at this time,” the staffers said. “And, while complaint counsel shares respondents’ concerns regarding the severity of the pandemic, these concerns can be remedied by proceeding with a virtual hearing.”

    The FTC case alleges that that Altria shut down its own e-cigarette business to pave the way for the investment, in the process eliminating competition in violation of antitrust laws.

     

  • Altria Full-Year Revenues up

    Altria Full-Year Revenues up

    Photo: Altria Group

    Altria Group reported net revenues of $26.15 billion in fiscal 2020, up 4.2 percent from 2019. The company attributes the increase to higher net revenues in the smokable products and oral tobacco products segments, partially offset by lower net revenues in the “all-other” category and the wine segment. Revenues net of excise taxes increased 5.3 percent to $20.84 billion.

    “Altria delivered outstanding results in 2020 and managed through the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Altria CEO Billy Gifford. “Our tobacco businesses were resilient, and we made steady progress toward our 10-year vision to responsibly transition adult smokers to a noncombustible future.”

    “Our plans for the year ahead include accelerating investments in support of our 10-year vision, which we expect to fund through the continued financial strength of our tobacco businesses. We expect to deliver 2021 full-year adjusted diluted EPS [earnings per share] in a range of $4.49 to $4.62, representing a growth rate of 3 percent to 6 percent from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $4.36 in 2020.”

    In a press note, Altria Group highlighted notable developments in key business segments over the past fiscal year.

    In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the IQOS 3 device for sale in the U.S. The new device has a longer battery life and a faster re-charging time compared to the currently authorized 2.4 version. Altria subsidiary Philip Morris USA expects to begin selling the new device shortly and that it will be made available across all existing retail channels in Atlanta, Charlotte and Richmond.

    In the fourth quarter, Altria’s Helix subsidiary expanded the distribution of On! Nicotine pouches by an additional 22,000 stores. On! is now available in approximately 78,000 stores as of the end of the fourth quarter, an increase of nearly 40 percent from the end of the third quarter and more than five times the store count from the end of 2019.

    Helix reached annualized manufacturing capacity for On! of 50 million cans in the fourth quarter. Helix expects unconstrained On! manufacturing capacity for the U.S. market by mid-year 2021.

    In November, Altria exercised its right to convert its nonvoting shares in Juul to voting shares. The company said it does not currently intend to exercise its additional governance rights obtained upon share conversion, including the right to elect directors to Juul’s board, or to vote its Juul shares other than as a passive investor, pending the outcome of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission litigation.

    Altria said its tobacco businesses have not experienced any material adverse effects associated with governmental actions to restrict consumer movement or business operations amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Most retail stores in which their products are sold have been deemed to be essential businesses by authorities and remain open.

  • Altria Certified as Great Place to Work

    Altria Certified as Great Place to Work

    Photo: Altria Group

    Altria Group has been certified a Great Place to Work by Great Place to Work, a global authority on workplace culture, employee experience and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue and increased innovation.

    “We are thrilled to be Great Place to Work-Certified and particularly pleased that more than 90 percent of employees who participated in the survey said that Altria is a great place to work,” said Charlie Whitaker, Altria’s senior vice president, chief human resources officer and chief compliance officer, in a statement. “Engaged, empowered and appreciated employees are critical to achieving our ten-year Vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a non-combustible future.”

    According to a survey fielded by Great Place to Work, of the employees who took the survey, 94 percent believe that Altria promotes flexibility, has ethical leadership, provides a good working environment, and supports its communities. 2020 was the first year that Altria participated in the Great Place to Work certification process.

    “We congratulate Altria on their Certification,” said Sarah Lewis-Kulin, vice president of best workplace list research at Great Place to Work. “Organizations that earn their employees’ trust create great workplace cultures that deliver outstanding business results.”