Altria Group, Inc

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. Philip Morris International was spun off in 2008. 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. The company has its head offices in unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia.

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.

Contents 1 History 2 Holdings 3 Branding as Altria 4 Controversy 4.1 Tobacco 5 Corporate governance 5.1 Board of directors 5.2 Headquarters 6 Political influence 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

This section requires expansion.

[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
• Benson & Hedges (American Version)
• Best
• Bristol
• Bucks
• Cambridge
• Chesterfield
• Classic
• Collector's Choice
• Commander
• Elita
• English Ovals
• F6
• Lark
• Long Beach
• L&M
• Marlboro
• Merit
• Next
• Parliament
• Philip Morris
• Players
• Saratoga
• Sparta
• Start
• Sampoerna (a brand of Indonesian kreteks)
• Virginia Slims

Wine

• Chateau Ste Michelle
• Columbia Crest
• Stags Leap Wine Cellars
• Conn Creek
• Red Diamond
• Snoqualmie
• Spring Valley
• Villa Mt Eden
• Erath
• Col Solare
• Northstar
• Villa Antinori
• Tormaresca
• Tignanello
• Antica Napa Valley
• Solaia
• Santa Cristina
• Haras di Pirque
• La Bracessca
• Montenisa
• Hawk Crest
• Fourteen Hands
• Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte
• Palmes d'Or
• Domaine Ste Michelle

[edit] Corporate governance

[edit] Board of directors

Current members of the board of directors of Altria Group are:

• Elizabeth Bailey
• Gerald L. Baliles
• Dinyar S. Devitre
• Thomas F. Farrell II
• Robert E.R. Huntley
• George Muñoz
• Nabil Sakkab
• Michael E. Szymanczyk

[edit] Headquarters

Prior to being based in Virginia, Philip Morris had its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.^[7] In 2003 Philip Morris announced that it would move its headquarters to Virginia. The company said that it planned to keep around 750 employees in its former headquarters. Brendan McCormick, a spokesperson for Philip Morris, said that the company estimated that the move would save the company over $60 million each year.^[8] The company now has its head offices in unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia, near Richmond.^[9]

[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.^[10][11]

[edit] See also

• Tobacco industry
• Philip Morris USA
• Master Settlement Agreement

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site