- Martin J. Barrington succeeds Michael E. Szymanczyk as Altria’s
Chairman and CEO, following Mr. Szymanczyk’s retirement
- Altria announces Annual Meeting voting results
- Altria reaffirms 2012 full-year guidance for reported and adjusted
diluted earnings per share (EPS)
- Altria declares regular quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share
RICHMOND, Va. -- (Business Wire)
Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) (NYSE: MO) held its 2012 Annual Meeting of
Shareholders (Annual Meeting) today. In his last Annual Meeting as
Altria’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Michael E.
Szymanczyk updated shareholders on Altria’s continuing progress against
its corporate Mission, which enables Altria to deliver superior returns
to shareholders.
Appointment of Chairman and CEO
Following today’s Annual Meeting, Mr. Martin J. Barrington succeeded Mr.
Szymanczyk as Altria’s Chairman and CEO. Earlier this year, Mr.
Szymanczyk had announced his decision to retire after 23 years of
distinguished service to the Company, including four years as Chairman
and CEO of Altria and 12 years as President and CEO of Philip Morris USA
Inc. (PM USA).
“I am very pleased that our Board has elected Marty Barrington to
succeed me as Chairman and CEO,” said Mr. Szymanczyk. “And I am equally
pleased that they have elected Dave Beran to work with Marty as
President and Chief Operating Officer. Marty and Dave have made
significant contributions in a variety of roles over the years. Their
talent and experience give the Board, and me personally, great
confidence in their ability to lead Altria through its next phase of
growth.”
“I am very excited about Altria’s future,” said Mr. Barrington. “The
Company has a unique combination of terrific and profitable brands, a
strong and diverse balance sheet and truly talented people to drive
growth into the future. I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead this
Company.”
Voting Results for Altria’s 2012 Annual Meeting
Altria’s shareholders elected to a one-year term each of the eleven
nominees for director named in Altria’s proxy statement; ratified the
selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Altria’s independent
registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending 2012;
approved on an advisory basis the compensation of Altria’s named
executive officers; and defeated one shareholder proposal at today’s
Annual Meeting. Final voting results will be reported on a Current
Report on Form 8-K.
2012 Full-Year Guidance
Altria reaffirms its 2012 full-year guidance for reported diluted EPS to
be in the range of $2.25 to $2.31, as updated in yesterday’s press
release. The forecast includes estimated net gains of $0.08 per share,
reflecting estimated net gains of $0.10 per share for SABMiller plc
(SABMiller) special items, partially offset by asset impairment, exit
and implementation costs of $0.02 per share related to the cost
reduction program that Altria announced in October 2011.
Altria reaffirms its 2012 full-year guidance for adjusted diluted EPS,
which excludes special items shown in Table 1 below, to be in the range
of $2.17 to $2.23, representing a growth rate of 6% to 9% from an
adjusted diluted EPS base of $2.05 per share in 2011.
The factors described in the Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
section of this release represent continuing risks to this forecast.
Reconciliations of full-year adjusted to reported diluted EPS are shown
in Table 1 below.
|
|
| Table 1 - Altria’s Full-Year Earnings Per Share Guidance
Excluding Special Items |
|
|
|
|
| Full Year |
| | | | | 2012 Guidance |
|
|
|
| 2011 |
|
|
|
| Change |
| Reported diluted EPS | | | | | $2.25 to $2.31 | |
|
|
|
| $ | 1.64 | |
|
|
|
| 37% to 41% |
Asset impairment, exit, integration and
implementation costs
| | | | |
0.02
| | | | | | |
0.07
| | | | | | |
|
SABMiller special items
| | | | |
(0.10
|
)
| | | | | |
0.03
| | | | | | |
|
PMCC leveraged lease charge
| | | | |
-
| | | | | | |
0.30
| | | | | | |
|
Tax items*
| | | | |
-
| | | | | | |
(0.04
|
)
| | | | | |
|
Tobacco and health judgments
| | | | |
-
| | | | | |
|
0.05
| | | | | | |
| Adjusted diluted EPS |
|
|
|
| $2.17 to $2.23 |
|
|
|
|
| $ | 2.05 |
|
|
|
|
| 6% to 9% |
* Excludes the tax impact included in the 2011 PMCC leveraged
lease charge. |
Note: Altria reports its financial results, including diluted
EPS, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP). Altria’s management uses adjusted measures,
which exclude certain income and expense items that management
believes are not part of underlying operations, for planning,
forecasting and evaluating the performances of Altria’s
businesses. Altria’s management does not view any of these special
items to be part of Altria’s sustainable results as they may be
highly variable and difficult to predict and can distort
underlying business trends and results. |
|
|
Regular Quarterly Dividend
Following today’s Annual Meeting, Altria’s Board of Directors (Board)
declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.41 per common share, payable
on July 10, 2012, to shareholders of record as of June 15, 2012. The
ex-dividend date is June 13, 2012.
Webcast Replay
A copy of Mr. Szymanczyk’s business presentation and prepared remarks,
as well as a replay of the audio webcast of Altria’s Annual Meeting, are
available on altria.com until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, June 15,
2012.
Altria’s Profile
Altria directly or indirectly owns 100% of each of PM USA, U.S.
Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (USSTC), John Middleton Co. (Middleton),
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. (Ste. Michelle) and Philip Morris
Capital Corporation (PMCC). Altria holds a continuing economic and
voting interest in SABMiller.
The brand portfolios of Altria’s tobacco operating companies include
such well-known names as Marlboro, Copenhagen, Skoal and
Black & Mild. Ste. Michelle produces and markets premium wines
sold under various labels, including Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia
Crest and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, and it exclusively
distributes and markets Antinori, Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte
and Villa Maria Estate products in the United States. Trademarks
and service marks related to Altria referenced in this release are the
property of, or licensed by, Altria or its subsidiaries. More
information about Altria is available at altria.com.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This press release and today’s remarks contain projections of future
results and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of
risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor
Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Important factors that may cause actual results and outcomes to differ
materially from those contained in the projections and forward-looking
statements included in this press release are described in Altria’s
publicly filed reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2011 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the period ended March 31, 2012.
These factors include the following: Altria’s tobacco businesses (PM
USA, USSTC and Middleton) are subject to significant competition;
changes in adult consumer preferences and demand for their products;
fluctuations in raw material availability, quality and cost; reliance on
key facilities and suppliers; reliance on critical information systems,
many of which are managed by third party services providers;
fluctuations in levels of customer inventories; the effects of global,
national and local economic and market conditions; changes to income tax
laws; legislation, including actual and potential federal and state
excise tax increases; increasing marketing and regulatory restrictions;
the effects of price increases related to excise tax increases and
concluded tobacco litigation settlements on trade inventories,
consumption rates and consumer preferences within price segments; health
concerns relating to the use of tobacco products and exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke; privately imposed smoking restrictions;
and, from time to time, governmental investigations.
Furthermore, the results of Altria’s tobacco businesses are dependent
upon their continued ability to promote brand equity successfully; to
anticipate and respond to evolving adult consumer preferences; to
develop new products and markets within and potentially outside the
United States; to broaden brand portfolios in order to compete
effectively; and to improve productivity.
Altria and its tobacco businesses are also subject to federal, state and
local government regulation, including broad-based regulation of PM USA
and USSTC by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Altria and its
subsidiaries continue to be subject to litigation, including risks
associated with adverse jury and judicial determinations, courts
reaching conclusions at variance with the companies’ understanding of
applicable law, bonding requirements in the limited number of
jurisdictions that do not limit the dollar amount of appeal bonds and
certain challenges to bond cap statutes.
Altria cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not
complete and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements
that it may make except as required by applicable law. All subsequent
written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Altria or
any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the cautionary statements referenced above.
Contacts:
Altria Client Services
Investor Relations
804-484-8222
or
Altria
Client Services
Media Relations
804-484-8897
Source: Altria Group, Inc.
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