Altria

Altria Group Inc
	File:Altria.jpg
Company type	Public
Industry	Tobacco, Food, Beverage
Founded	1860 London
Headquarters	New York City
Key people	Louis Camilleri, CEO & Chairman; Dinyar Devitre, CFO
Products	See below
Revenue	$101.407 billion USD (2006)
Operating income	11,919,000,000 United States dollar (2022)
Net income	$12.022 billion USD (2006)
Number of employees	199,000
Website	www.altria.com

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) (previously named Philip Morris Companies Inc.), based in New York City, is the parent company of Kraft Foods, Philip Morris International, Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. In addition, Altria Group, Inc. has a 28.7% economic and voting interest in SABMiller plc.

Altria is one of the world's largest tobacco, food and beverage corporations. It is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500.

On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc.

On February 1st 2007, the company announced its plan to spin-off Kraft foods (publicly traded since 2001). The stake of the company in the food processing giant will be distributed to its shareholders.

Holdings

Altria Group, Inc. owns 100 percent of Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International, and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. It also owns 88.1 percent of Kraft Foods Inc. and 28.7% of SABMiller plc.

The net revenue (and operating income) of Altria Group, Inc. comes predominantly from its tobacco business (over 70% in 2005), as is shown in the following table (Source:US Securities and Exchange Commission, Altria Group, Inc. Annual report 2005):

Activity	Net revenue in 2005 (millions USD)	Net revenue in 2005 (%)	Operating income in 2005 (millions USD)	Operating income in 2005 (%)
USA tobacco	18,134	18.5%	4,581	26.3%
International tobacco	45,288	46.3%	7,825	45.0%
North American food	23,293	23.8%	3,831	22.0%
International food	10,820	11.1%	1,122	6.5%
Financial services	319	0.3%	31	0.2%
Total	97,854	100%	17,390	100%

Philip Morris component

Altria's tobacco subsidiary, Philip Morris, is the world's largest commercial tobacco company by sales. (The China National Tobacco Co. and Japan Tobacco sell larger volumes.) Their flagship Marlboro is the world's most popular tobacco brand. Other popular tobacco brands owned by Philip Morris are Parliament, Virginia Slims, and Benson & Hedges (licensed in some markets).

Philip Morris was founded by a London tobacconist of the same name. He was one of the first people to sell hand-rolled cigarettes in the 1860s, selling them under the brand names Oxford and Cambridge Blues, following the adoption of cigarette smoking by British soldiers returning from the Crimean War. The company opened its New York office in 1902 and soon became part of James Duke's American Tobacco Company monopoly.

Though Altria's headquarters are still in New York, in 2004 its Philip Morris USA division completed a move of its 682 New York based employees to Richmond, Virginia.

Corporate Office Location

120 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017 USA

Telephone: 1 917 8048233
Fax: 1 917 663 2167

(See also complete offices list)

History

Altria's history at a glance

1847: Philip Morris opens a shop in London, selling tobacco and ready-made cigarettes.
1881: Philip Morris goes public in London.
1887: The company becomes Philip Morris & Co., Ltd.
1902: Philip Morris & Co. Ltd. is incorporated in New York.
1919: Acquisition of Philip Morris & Co. in the US by a new firm owned by American stockholders and incorporation in Virginia under the name of Philip Morris & Co., Ltd., Inc.
1924: Introduction of the Marlboro (cigarette) brand
1954: The first major affiliate outside the USA is created: Philip Morris (Australia) Ltd.
1955: Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc. changes its name to Philip Morris Incorporated.
1955: Philip Morris Overseas is established as an international division within Philip Morris (to be renamed Philip Morris International in 1967).
1963: Philip Morris acquires its first factory in Europe, Switzerland's Fabriques de Tabac Réunies (FTR).
1967: Philip Morris reorganizes to create three internal operating divisions within Philip Morris Incorporated: Philip Morris Domestic, Philip Morris International and Philip Morris Industrial.
1968: Philip Morris Domestic changes its name to Philip Morris USA.
1969: Philip Morris Inc. acquires Miller Brewing Company from W.R. Grace and Company
1970: Philip Morris GmBH set up as an affiliate in Germany.
1985: Philip Morris Companies, a holding company, becomes the publicly-held parent of Philip Morris Incorporated.
1987: Philip Morris International, newly incorporated operating company, acquires the international business division of Philip Morris, Inc.
1988: Philip Morris Companies Inc. acquires Kraft Foods.
2000: Philip Morris Companies Inc. merges Nabisco, a spin-off from RJR Nabisco, into Kraft Foods.
2001: Philip Morris International headquarters are relocated from the USA to Lausanne, Switzerland.
2002: Philip Morris Companies Inc. sells Miller Brewing Company to South African Breweries, retaining a 36% share.
2003: Philip Morris Companies Inc. changes its name to Altria Group, Inc., the parent company of Kraft Foods, Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International and Philip Morris Capital Corporation.
2007: The company announces the spin-off of Kraft Foods, and will concentrate on its tobacco activity.

Products

A more complete list is at Altria assets

Tobacco

Alpine
Basic

Best
Bristol
Bond Street
Bucks
Cambridge
Chesterfield (named for Chesterfield County, Virginia)
Classic
Collector's Choice
Commander
Drina
English Ovals
F6
Lark
L&M
Marlboro
Merit
Morava
Next
Parliament
Players
Saratoga
Sampoerna
Virginia Slims
West

Food & Beverage

Altria developed KMX

Boca Burger
Crystal Light (or Clight in several countries)
Daim bar
Gevalia
Jacobs coffee
Jell-O
Kaffee HAG (the world's first decaffeinated coffee)
Kool-Aid
Kraft Foods cheese spreads, dressings, cheeses and dinners
Maxwell House coffee
Milka
Miracle Whip
Miracoli dinners
Nabisco biscuits
Onko
Oreo cookies and products
Oscar Mayer meats and lunch products
Post Cereals (some brands are former Nabisco cereals)
Pacific biscuits, China's number one biscuit
Philadelphia cream cheese
Shake 'n' Bake breading mixes
Suchard cocoa
Tang
Tombstone pizzas
Toblerone
Vegemite

Corporate governance

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 Noto
John S. Reed
Stephen Wolf

On May 1, 2006, Carlos Slim resigned from the board of directors. The board presently is composed of eleven members.

Executive staff

Louis C. Camilleri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Altria Group, Inc.
André Calantzopoulos, President and Chief Executive Officer, Philip Morris International Inc.
Irene B. Rosenfeld, Chief Executive Officer, Kraft Foods Inc.
Michael E. Szymanczyk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Philip Morris USA Inc
John J. Mulligan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Philip Morris Capital Corporation.
Nancy J. De Lisi, Senior Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions, Altria Group, Inc.
Dinyar S. Devitre, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Altria Group, Inc.
David I. Greenberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, Altria Group, Inc.
Steven C. Parrish, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Altria Group, Inc.
Charles R. Wall, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Altria Group, Inc.

Political influence

With $101,220,000 reported lobbying [1], Altria is the corporation with the biggest investment in influencing lawmakers in Washington.

Altria is also involved in combating proponents of global warming and climate change, through the funding of astroturf organisations such as The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition. [2]

External links