JTI-Macdonald Corp. (JTI-MC) announced that last week it, along with co-defendants Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITC), and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH), filed materials with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in joint support of plans to settle all pending tobacco-related claims in Canada, subject to proposed amendments being approved by the court.
The filings stem from a 2019 class-action lawsuit, where in October 2024 the court-appointed mediator proposed the three companies pay a total of 32.5 billion Canadian dollars to settle all litigation. In January, JTI-MC reached an agreement with the other co-defendants on the terms of allocation of payments that were then filed with the Ontario Superior Court Feb. 27, which now awaits court approval.
As a result, JTI-MC intends to record a provision for litigation losses related to the payment of the settlement amount as an operating expense in fiscal year 2024, for an adjusting subsequent event.