Altria Group 10-Q 2024-09-30

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number 1-08940

Altria Group, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (804) 274-2200

Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No þ

At October 22, 2024, there were 1,694,812,982 shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.33 1/3 per share.

ALTRIA GROUP, INC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Altria Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in millions of dollars)

(Unaudited)

See notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

Altria Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Continued)

(in millions of dollars, except share and per share data)

(Unaudited)

________________________________________________

See notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

Altria Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings

(in millions of dollars, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

_____________________________________

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The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the other sections in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Form 10-Q”), including our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes contained in Item 1. Financial Statements of this Form 10-Q (“Item 1”). When used in this Form 10-Q, the terms “Altria,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to either (i) Altria Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries or (ii) Altria Group, Inc. only and not its consolidated subsidiaries, as appropriate in the context.

In this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) section, we refer to the following “adjusted” financial measures: adjusted operating companies income (loss) (“OCI”); adjusted OCI margins; adjusted net earnings; adjusted diluted earnings per share (“EPS”); and adjusted effective tax rates. We also refer to the ratio of debt-to-Consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, as defined in our credit agreement, which includes certain adjustments). These financial measures are not required by, or calculated in accordance with, United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and may not be calculated the same as similarly titled measures used by other companies. These financial measures should thus be considered as supplemental in nature and not considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a further description of these non-GAAP financial measures, see the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section below.

Executive Summary

Our Business

We have a leading portfolio of tobacco products for U.S. tobacco consumers age 21+. Our Vision is to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future (“Vision”). We are Moving Beyond Smoking™, leading the way in moving adult smokers away from cigarettes by taking action to transition millions to potentially less harmful choices - believing it is a substantial opportunity for adult tobacco consumers, our businesses and society.

Our wholly owned subsidiaries include leading manufacturers of both combustible and smoke-free products. In combustibles, we own Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), the most profitable U.S. cigarette manufacturer, and John Middleton Co. (“Middleton”), a leading U.S. cigar manufacturer.

In smoke-free products, we own U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (“USSTC”), the leading global moist smokeless tobacco (“MST”) manufacturer, Helix Innovations LLC (“Helix”), a leading manufacturer of oral nicotine pouches, and NJOY, LLC (“NJOY”), an e-vapor manufacturer with a commercialized product portfolio fully covered by marketing granted orders (“MGO”) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Additionally, we have a majority-owned joint venture, Horizon Innovations LLC, for the U.S. marketing and commercialization of heated tobacco stick products. As of this filing, there are no products in the U.S. marketplace from the joint venture.

The brand portfolios of our operating companies include Marlboro, Black & Mild, Copenhagen, Skoal, on! and NJOY. Trademarks related to Altria referenced in this Form 10-Q are the property of Altria or our subsidiaries or are used with permission.

Our investments in equity securities include Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (“ABI”), the world’s largest brewer, and Cronos Group Inc. (“Cronos”), a leading Canadian cannabinoid company. In March 2024, we sold a portion of our investment in ABI (“ABI Transaction”). We used the proceeds from the sale to fund accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) transactions for our common stock. For further information on the ABI Transaction and the ASR transactions, see Note 6. Investments in Equity Securities to our condensed consolidated financial statements in Item 1 (“Note 6”) and Note 1. Background and Basis of Presentation to our condensed consolidated financial statements in Item 1 (“Note 1”), respectively.

Vision and 2028 Goals

As we execute on our Vision, we established our 2028 Enterprise Goals (“2028 Goals”) to provide our investors with specific metrics to measure our progress. Our 2028 Goals are:

Corporate

**▪**Deliver a mid-single digits adjusted diluted EPS compounded annual growth rate in 2028 from our base in 2022;

**▪**A progressive dividend goal targeting mid-single digits dividend per share growth annually through 2028;

**▪**Target a debt-to-Consolidated EBITDA ratio of approximately 2.0x;

**▪**Maintain our leadership position in the U.S. tobacco space; and

**▪**Maintain a total adjusted OCI margin of at least 60% in each year through 2028 while investing behind innovative smoke-free products.

U.S. Smoke-Free Portfolio

**▪**Grow U.S. smoke-free volumes by at least 35% from our 2022 base of 800 million units by 2028; and

**▪**Approximately double our U.S. smoke-free net revenues to $5 billion by 2028 from our 2022 base, with $2 billion sourced from innovative smoke-free products.

Long-Term Growth

**▪**Compete internationally in the top innovative oral tobacco markets and develop a pathway to participate in heated tobacco and e-vapor markets; and

**▪**Enter non-nicotine categories with broad commercial distribution of at least five products by 2028.

See Operating Results by Business Segment and Liquidity and Capital Resources for additional information on total adjusted OCI margin and debt-to-Consolidated EBITDA, respectively.

Optimize & Accelerate Initiative

On October 30, 2024, our Board of Directors (“Board of Directors” or “Board”) approved a multi-phase Optimize & Accelerate initiative (“Initiative”) designed to modernize our ways of working as we accelerate our progress toward our Vision and 2028 Goals. Through the Initiative, we plan to increase our organization’s speed, efficiency and effectiveness by centralizing work, streamlining and standardizing processes, further using generative artificial intelligence and automation, and outsourcing certain transactional tasks. We expect the design and detailed plans for all phases of the Initiative to be substantially complete in 12 to 18 months.

As part of the Initiative, we intend to establish an Accelerated Business Solutions organization within Altria Client Services LLC. This organization will be responsible for driving efficiency and process improvement across our companies in partnership with external service providers.

We expect the initial phases of the Initiative will deliver at least $600 million in cumulative cost savings over the next five years, which we plan to reinvest in our businesses in support of our Vision and 2028 Goals. The cumulative cost savings exclude our estimated total pre-tax charges for these initial phases of approximately $100 million to $125 million (excluding any non-cash impact that may result from pension settlement and curtailment accounting), which we intend to treat as special items and exclude from our adjusted diluted EPS. Substantially all of these charges will result in cash expenditures and will consist of employee separations, new technology, business advisory services and other costs. Although we are still evaluating certain aspects of the initial phases of the Initiative, for which the associated costs are not yet deemed probable and reasonably estimable, we expect to record the majority of the charges related to the initial phases of the Initiative by the end of the first half of 2025, with the initial charges being recorded beginning in the fourth quarter of 2024. As we further develop and finalize detailed plans for the additional phases of the Initiative, we plan to update estimated related costs and cumulative cost savings as such amounts become probable and reasonably estimable.

Trends and Developments

In this MD&A section, we discuss factors that have impacted our business as of the date of this Form 10-Q. In addition, we are aware of an

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Interest Rate Risk

The fair value of our long-term debt, all of which is fixed-rate debt, is subject to fluctuations resulting primarily from changes in market interest rates. The following table provides the fair value of our long-term debt and the change in fair value based on a 1% increase or decrease in market interest rates at September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023:

We expect interest rates on borrowings under our Credit Agreement to be based on the Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate, plus a percentage based on the higher of the ratings of our long-term senior unsecured debt from Moody’s and S&P. The applicable percentage for borrowings under our Credit Agreement at September 30, 2024 was 1.0% based on our long-term senior unsecured debt ratings on that date. At September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we had no borrowings under our Credit Agreement.

We carried out an evaluation, with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e)) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as of the end of the period covered by this Form 10-Q. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective.

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Part II – OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

See Note 14 for a discussion of legal proceedings pending against us. See also Exhibits 99.1 and 99.2 to this Form 10-Q.

Information regarding Risk Factors appears in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our 2023 Form 10-K. There have been no material changes to the risk factors previously disclosed in our 2023 Form 10-K.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

In January 2024, our Board of Directors authorized a $1.0 billion share repurchase program that it increased to $3.4 billion in March 2024 (as increased, “January 2024 share repurchase program”). We expect to complete the program by December 31, 2024. The timing of share repurchases depends upon marketplace conditions and other factors, and the program remains subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors.

Our share repurchase activity for each of the three months in the period ended September 30, 2024, was as follows:

(1) The total number of shares purchased includes (a) shares purchased under the January 2024 share repurchase program and (b) shares withheld by Altria in an amount equal to the statutory withholding taxes for vested stock-based awards previously granted to eligible employees (which totaled 1,954 in August and 761 in September).

During the quarter ended September 30, 2024, none of our directors or officers adopted, modified or terminated any “Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” or “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement,” as each term is defined in Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K.

Signature

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

ALTRIA GROUP, INC.

/s/ SALVATORE MANCUSO

Salvatore Mancuso

Executive Vice President and

Chief Financial Officer

October 31, 2024