Altria Group
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| Type | Public (NYSE: MO) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder(s) | Philip Morris |
| Headquarters | Henrico County, VA, US |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Michael E. Szymanczyk (Chairman) & (CEO) |
| Industry | Tobacco |
| Products | See below |
| Revenue | ▲ $ 19.356 billion (2008) |
| Operating income | ▲ $ 4.489 billion (2008) |
| Net income | ▼ $ 4.930 billion (2008) |
| Total assets | ▼ $ 27.215 billion (2008) |
| Total equity | ▼ $ 2.828 billion (2008) |
| Employees | 10,400 - March 2009 |
| Website | Altria.com |
Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) (previously named Philip Morris Companies Inc.), based in Henrico County, Virginia, is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton, Inc., Philip Morris Capital Corporation, and Ste Michelle Wine Estates, and is one of the world's largest tobacco corporations. In addition, Altria Group, Inc. has a 28.7% economic and voting interest in one of the world's largest brewing companies, UK based SABMiller plc. It is a component of the S&P 500 and was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average until February 19, 2008.
On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc. On March 30, 2007, a spin out of Kraft Foods subsidiary (publicly traded since 2001) was concluded through distribution of the remaining stake of shares (88.1%) to Altria shareholders. As a result, Altria no longer holds any interest in Kraft Foods. On March 28, 2008 a similar spin out of Philip Morris International was completed with 100% of shares being distributed to Altria shareholders.
On January 6, 2009, Altria Group, Inc. completed the acquisition of UST Inc., the world's leading moist smokeless tobacco manufacturer and also acquired Ste Michelle Wine Estates, a leading fine wine company.
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[edit] Holdings
Altria Group, Inc. owns 100 percent of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton, Inc. and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. It also owns 28.7% of SABMiller PLC.
Before the recent restructuring, the net revenue (and operating income) of Altria Group, Inc. came predominantly from its tobacco business, as is shown in the following table. Altria's share of SABMiller's revenue and profits is not included in the table below because its holding is too small to be consolidated in the group accounts. [1]
| Activity | Net revenue in 2006 (millions USD) |
Net revenue in 2006 (%) |
Operating income in 2006 (millions USD) |
Operating income in 2006 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA tobacco | 18,474 | 18.2% | 4,812 | 26.5% |
| International tobacco | 48,260 | 47.6% | 8,458 | 46.5% |
| North American food | 23,118 | 22.8% | 3,753 | 20.7% |
| International food | 11,238 | 11.1% | 964 | 5.3% |
| Financial services | 317 | 0.3% | 176 | 1.0% |
| Total | 101,407 | 100% | 18,163 | 100% |
[edit] Branding as Altria
The rebranding of Phillip Morris to Altria took place in 2003. The company wished to emphasize that its business consists of more than tobacco; at the time, it owned an 84% stake in Kraft,[2] although that business has since been spun off.[3] The name "Altria" comes from the Latin word for "high" and was part of a trend of companies rebranding to names that previously did not exist, Accenture and Verizon being two other notable examples.[4] The rebranding took place amidst financially troubled circumstances.[5]
[edit] Controversy
"Philip Morris documents show the majority of the company's internal reports regarding 210Po (Polonium) were not published. One manuscript believed by some Philip Morris scientists to be favorable to the tobacco industry was withheld from publication for fear of heightening public awareness of 210Po."[6][vague]
[edit] Tobacco
Philip Morris USA brands:
- Alpine
- Basic
- Best
- Bristol
- Bucks
- Cambridge
- Chesterfield
- Classic
- Collector's Choice
- Commander
- Drina
- Elita
- English Ovals
- F6
- Lark
- Long Beach
- L&M
- Marlboro
- Merit
- Morava
- Next
- Parliament
- Philip Morris
- Players
- Saratoga
- Sparta
- Start
- Sampoerna (a brand of Indonesian kreteks)
- Virginia Slims
[edit] Corporate governance
[edit] Board of directors
Current members of the board of directors of Altria Group are:
- Elizabeth Bailey
- Harold Brown (former U.S. Secretary of Defense)
- Mathis Cabiallavetta
- Louis C. Camilleri
- Dudley Fishburn
- Robert Huntley
- Thomas W. Jones
- George Muñoz
- Lucio Notop
- John S. Reed
- Stephen Wolf
[edit] Political influence
According to the Center for Public Integrity, Altria spent around $101 million on lobbying the United States government between 1998 and 2004, making it the second most active organization in the nation. [7] [8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ US Securities and Exchange Commission, Altria Group, Inc. Annual report 2006
- ^ Philip Morris completes its rebranding to Altria Group - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic
- ^ Coca-Cola vs. Altria: Altria
- ^ Altria Director Discusses Rebranding Company, CNNfn. | Finance Wire (November, 2003)
- ^ US TOBACCO giant Philip Morris changed the name of its parent company to Altria last week but the rebranding failed to hide the weak state of its business. - Sunday Business (...
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/tobacco-firms-kept-quiet-on--polonium-role-in-cigarettes-907194.html
- ^ The Center for Public Integrity: Altria Group, Inc.
- ^ The Center for Public Integrity: Top 100 Companies and Organizations
