Phillip Morris USA, owned by Altria, filed lawsuits against ten retailers selling counterfeit versions of the company?s Marlboro brand cigarettes in New York and New Jersey. High excise taxes and lack of effective tax enforcement in the NY metropolitan area have exacerbated the counterfeiting problem for Philip Morris.
Altria's Philip Morris lost a $300 million jury verdict in a lawsuit brought by a former Florida smoker who suffers from ephysema. The company said it would seek "further review" of the jury verdict.
Q3 2009 earnings for Altria rose to $882 million, up from $867 million a year earlier. Revenue was up 20% due to increases in the federal excise tax and the acquisition of smokeless tobacco company UST. Cigarette volume sales fell 16% as a result of higher pricing and continuing smoking bans in public places.
Altria announced plans to expand sales of its Marlboro snus and Copenhagens, two moves aimed at reinforcing its strengths in the smokeless-tobacco market
Altria raised its quarterly dividend by two cents to 34 cents a share, pushing its yield to 7.5%.
The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Altria over $79.5 million in punitive damages awarded to the widow of a longtime Oregon smoker. The court declined to rule on the merits of the case.
A Florida jury ruled that Altria was not liable for the death of a Florida smoker. This was the first win for the defense in the case. The Supreme Court had previously allowed such lawsuits to be brought against Altria individually.
On March 4, Altria announced large price increases for its products driven by the April 1 changes in excise taxes. New cigarette prices will take effect on March 9, all other products will experience price changes on March 29. Management hopes this will return its growth to 5-6%.
A wave of layoffs is expected for the coming month at Altria's Richmond-area operations, announced the company, as part of a reorganization strategy.
A jury ruled in the first of 8000 individual cases to go to trial in Florida that Altria must pay $3 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages for the death of Stuart Hess in 1997.
Altria raised carton and pack prices in recent days. The federal cigarette tax will rise from 39 cents a pack to almost $1.01 on April 1.
Altria reported a 69% fall in fourth quarter profit, before divesting its overseas unit.
Altria is expected to announce a $1 price discount on tobacco sold in the southeast. Its Skoal and Copenhagen would be about $2.99 a can on average. Grizzly, the discount brand of Conwood, is sold in the Triad for an average retail price of $2.22 a can.
Altria shares rose as investors appeared to be putting money into defensive, 'safe' stocks ahead of a series of corporate earnings reports later in the week.
Altria announced it closed its acquisition of UST Inc., the biggest competitor int he US smokeless tobacco market. The deal was valued at $10.4 billion, with Altria assuming $1.3 billion in debt.
The decision allows Altria to be sued for deceptive advertising of light cigarettes, which in reality are no healthier than regular cigarettes.
Altria said it started to cut an undisclosed number of jobs due to the economic turmoil.
Atria announced in August 2007 it would cut as many as 400 jobs when it moved its headquarters out of New York. In March 2008, the company spun off Philip Morris International. The cuts were designed to save $250 million annually.
On March 28th, 2008 Philip Morris International and Altria split, now trading publically as two separate unaffiliated entities. The drop in share price reflects the change in size of Altrias portfolio of companies.
Higher-than-expected costs of restructuring and exiting recently spun Kraft foods continues to take its toll on Altria's net earnings. Although quarterly earnings rose compared to last year's, after deduction of one-time costs, net profit drops 18%.
Altria continues restructuring, announcing plans to close a North Carolina plant by 2010 and replace it with facilities in Europe. As weakening US growth pushes Altria to focus overseas, excitement grows about the "liberation" of Altria's exported cigarettes from the restrictions of US production.
