The Altria Group is due to host a live audio webcast from 09.00 Eastern Time on February 1 to discuss its 2017 fourth-quarter and full-year business results.
Altria will issue a press release with its business results about 07.00 on the same day.
The webcast can be accessed at altria.com or through the Altria Investor App. Pre-event registration is necessary, and is available via directions posted at www.altria.com/webcasts.
During the webcast, which will be in listen-only mode, chairman, CEO and president, Marty Barrington, and CFO, Billy Gifford, will discuss the results and answer questions from the investment community and news media.
An archived copy of the webcast will be available on altria.com or through the Altria Investor App. The free app is available for download at www.altria.com/irapp or through the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Tag: United States
Altria to webcast results
Relaxed over tax changes
Imperial Brands says that recently-announced changes to the US federal corporate tax rate are not expected to materially impact the group’s adjusted effective tax rate in the future.
‘The group benefits from substantial US tax amortisation of goodwill and intangibles which contributes to a relatively low adjusted effective tax rate,’ Imperial said in a note posted on its website yesterday.
‘For the year to 30 September 2018 we currently anticipate that the reduced taxation of US earnings will result in a benefit of less than one percent to the group adjusted effective tax rate. We continue to expect an overall adjusted effective tax rate for the group of around 20 percent.
‘The group’s US deferred tax assets and liabilities will be revalued to take account of the corporate tax rate changes. This is expected to result in a one-off credit of around £20m which will be treated as an adjusting item in the current year and will therefore not impact adjusted earnings.’iQOS due for discussion
The US Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) is due to meet later this month to discuss scientific issues related to the modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) applications submitted by Philip Morris Products S.A.
According to a note issued by the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), the meeting is due to take place on January 24-25 at the FDA’s White Oak campus.
‘The committee will discuss scientific issues related to the modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) applications submitted by Philip Morris Products S.A. for its iQOS system and several Marlboro HeatSticks products, which are currently under scientific review by FDA,’ the CTP said.
‘Seating for this meeting may be limited, so the public is encouraged to watch the free webcast instead of traveling to the meeting.
‘The link for the webcast will be available approximately 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the meeting each day and can be accessed through the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee website.’Lung-cancer data released
Health officials in England have defended a decision to hand over data on National Health Service cancer patients to a US firm linked to tobacco companies, according to a Press Association story.
Public Health England (PHE) said that it handed over the information after the statistical analysis firm William E Wecker submitted a data request under the Freedom of Information Act.
The health body said that it was legally bound to comply. It added that patient data was anonymised.
The comments were made after the Daily Telegraph revealed that data covering 179,040 lung tumours diagnosed between 2009 and 2013 – every case in England over the four-year period – was handed over to the data firm.
In its data request, the firm said it wanted to evaluate lung cancer trends in Australia, Ireland, the UK and the US.
The Press Association said William E Wecker described on its website its association with a number of tobacco companies, including Philip Morris International. But it is linked also to other bodies such as the American Medical Association.
‘William E Wecker Associates has established a track record of creative and effective applications of statistical and mathematical analysis to questions arising in regulation and litigation, in business and government,’ the company stated on its website.
The Press Association story is at: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180115/health-fitness/health-officials-defend-handing-cancer-data-to-tobacco-linked-firm.668048Juul in the crown
The surge in sales of the Juul electronic cigarette is quickly shifting the product from trendy to dominant front runner in the US, according to a story by Richard Craver for the Winston-Salem Journal.
During the latest four-week period tracked by Nielsen through December 30, Juul’s market share increased to 46.8 percent, from 40.0 percent on December 2.
At the same time, R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Vuse had dropped from 24.3 percent to 20.7 percent.
The current sales represent a drastic switch from a year ago, when Vuse held a 35.4 percent market share and Juul was at 25 percent.
E-cig and vaporizer sales were up overall in the sector, primarily based on price increases during the past 12 weeks.
Juul, which entered the mainstream retail marketplace in 2015, is sold in the form of a pen or a USB device.
It’s market-share growth has drawn criticism from anti-tobacco advocates, who say the discreet shape of the product makes it easy to hide its usage, including by teenagers.
Meanwhile, Craver made the point that Juul had exceeded within the vapor category the top market share (46.2 percent) of Philip Morris USA’s Marlboro brand within the traditional-cigarette category.
Craver’s report is at: http://www.journalnow.com/business/juul-continues-to-expand-e-cig-market-share-gap-with/article_a18fad85-7200-5bc1-a148-a4055bdf2e4b.html.Fire-cured under threat
In the most-recent issue of his Tobacco Farmer Newsletter, Christopher Bickers poses the question: Could fire-cured tobacco production be on the way to extinction?
This question will ring a bell for anybody who attended the sixth break-out session on the first day of the 2017 Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF), which was staged by Tobacco Reporter in New York in September.
Bickers noted that dark fire-cured tobacco was facing a serious potential challenge from a proposal made by the Food and Drug Administration to limit levels of NNN, a tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA), to no more than 1 ppm in finished smokeless tobacco products.
Although several production practices might influence NNN accumulation, Bickers wrote, the biggest factor by far was the weather during the curing season.
This was one of the points made at the GTNF – that, to a certain extent, some of the factors that influenced TSNA levels were beyond the control of the farmer.
Bickers’ piece includes some tips on the steps that a farmer can take to produce a crop that is as low in TSNAs as possible.
More information is available from Bickers at + 1 919-789-4631 or chrisbickers@gmail.com.Stier joins consumer body
Jeff Stier, who has been a regular presenter and panelist at Tobacco Reporter’s Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forums, has joined the US’ Consumer Choice Center (CCC) as a Senior Fellow.
A CCC press note said that Stier would continue his work of two decades by being a voice for consumers who believe paternalists don’t have a monopoly on public health.
“The addition of Jeff Stier to the CCC team expands our efforts in the United States to speak up for consumer choice and be effective in our approach,” said CCC MD Fred Roeder.
“Mr. Stier’s vast experience and talent as a researcher, public health advocate, and commentator will no doubt help bolster CCC’s impact and reach as we go forward.
“We are elated to have him join the team.
The press note said that, through op-eds, media interviews, testimony at government hearings and insightful tweets, Stier would advance CCC’s mission as it related to issues including food policy, tobacco harm reduction, environmental health, consumer product regulation, and innovation.
“I joined the CCC because its mission and mine are one in the same: responsibly representing and empowering consumers who want both appropriate regulations and choice,” said Stier.
“Too often, laws and rules fail to strike the right balance, in part, because incentives to get it right are skewed in favor of recklessly-stringent regulation.
“Regulators are generally more sensitive to risks than they are to costs and unintended consequences. Regulators aren’t hearing enough about this from beleaguered consumers because attacks on consumer choice are so widespread that consumers can’t possibly speak out effectively in the appropriate forums each time their choices are under attack,” he said.
Stier has appeared on CNBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, as well as network newscasts. He is a frequent radio commentator, having been heard on NPR, top-rated major market shows in cities including Boston, Philadelphia, and Sacramento, plus syndicated regional broadcasts.
His op-eds have been published in top outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, The Hill, The Washington Examiner, and National Review Online.
Stier has testified at FDA scientific meetings, met with White House officials, members of Congress and their staff about science policy, and has testified at state and local legislatures across the country.
Based in New York, Stier spent seven years as a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C.BAT expects tax reduction
British American Tobacco has said it anticipates that, for the year to the end of December 2018, the changes brought about by the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would reduce the Group’s effective tax rate percentage to the high-twenties.
‘All other things being equal, this would result in a benefit of six percent to full year 2018 earnings per share, supporting our commitment to high single digit earnings growth and increased investment in the roll out of Next Generation Products,’ the company said in a note posted on its website today.
BAT said it noted that approval had been given for the new Act and said that it was continuing to work through the full impact it would have on the company. It said it would provide in February more details about that impact as part of its preliminary announcement for the year ended 31 December 2017.
‘For the year to 31 December 2017 the announced changes will have no impact on the Group’s underlying effective tax rate, which we have previously said we expect to be around 30 percent, BAT said. ‘However, we anticipate that the changes will result in a non-cash exceptional tax credit as a result of the revaluation of deferred tax balances arising from the acquisition of Reynolds American Inc. (RAI).’Propaganda or advert?
A former resident of Pyongyang, North Korea, is hoping that her sizable Korean poster collection can present a more nuanced picture of art in the reclusive state, according to a CNN report, What North Korea propaganda posters reveal.
Stanford fellow Katharina Zellweger, who lived in Pyongyang for five years while working for a Swiss government agency, collected more than 100 examples from inside the country.
Most of the images are said to promote agriculture and science, ‘offering an alternative to the violent scenes typically associated with North Korean propaganda’.
The posters, which encourage hard work and solidarity, are reinforced with depictions of smiling model citizens and images celebrating national achievements.
North Korea has produced too a number of anti-smoking posters, having joined the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005.
The WHO is said to have reported that the country ‘keenly celebrates’ World No Tobacco Day every year.
Twenty-five of the posters are on display at the University Museum and Art Gallery in Hong Kong.Tobacco buildings listed
Two former R.J. Reynolds Tobacco buildings near its Whitaker Park complex have been named in the US’ National Register of Historic Places, according to a story by Richard Craver for the Winston-Salem Journal.
The three-story buildings, which are known as 2-1 and 2-2 and which are located at 951 Reynolds Boulevard, were built in 1937 and 1953 respectively.
Also included in the register are the Southern Railway spur-line trestle, an office building and a boiler and pump house, all built in 1922.
Building 2-1 was used for stemming and redrying, while 2-2 provided for additional and more-advanced redrying equipment. The stemming process was automated in 1953, leading to a sharp reduction of employment in the buildings.
The importance of the buildings was reduced following the 1961 opening of the $32 million (the equivalent of $265 million today) Whitaker Park manufacturing facility to accommodate growth of Reynolds’ new filtered cigarette brands Salem and Winston.
Neither building is in current use. They are owned by Whitaker Park Development Authority, a non-profit group that took ownership of the site in January.
Craver’s story is at: http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/reynolds-leaf-buildings-gain-listing-on-national-historic-register/article_7a6509b2-0794-50ee-aada-0b7b6252c10a.html.
