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Altria Reports First Quarter 2024 Results and Reaffirms Full-Year Guidance
Richmond, VA – April 25, 2024 – Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, demonstrating resilience in its traditional tobacco operations and progress in its strategic initiatives. CEO Billy Gifford highlighted the company’s momentum from the NJOY brand and reaffirmed the full-year guidance for adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS).
Financial Highlights
- Revenue and Profits: Altria reported a slight decline in net revenues to $5,576 million, a 2.5% decrease from the previous year. However, revenues net of excise taxes saw a minimal reduction of 1.0% to $4,717 million.
- Earnings Performance: Reported diluted EPS rose significantly by 21.0% to $1.21, while adjusted diluted EPS saw a slight decrease of 2.5% to $1.15.
- Tax Rates: The reported tax rate was reduced by 5.6 percentage points to 22.3%, and the adjusted tax rate saw a minor decrease of 0.2 percentage points to 24.8%.
Strategic Developments
- Divestitures and Buybacks: Altria has partially divested its investment in ABI, generating approximately $2.4 billion. Concurrently, the company expanded its share repurchase program, reflecting its ongoing commitment to delivering shareholder value.
- NJOY Performance: The NJOY brand continues to show growth with a 0.6 percentage point increase in retail share in the U.S. multi-outlet and convenience channels, demonstrating early success in the competitive e-vapor market.
Capital Management
- Share Repurchase Program: Following the partial sale of ABI, Altria's board authorized a $2.4 billion increase to the existing share repurchase program. Under this program, the company has already received 46.5 million shares and anticipates the completion of the accelerated share repurchase program by the end of June 2024.
- Dividends: Altria paid out $1.7 billion in dividends during the first quarter, continuing its practice of returning value to shareholders.
- Debt Retirement: The company also retired approximately $1.1 billion of its outstanding debt, strengthening its balance sheet.
Governance and Sustainability
- Corporate Responsibility: Altria was recognized for its efforts in sustainable supply chain management, being named to CDP’s 2023 Supplier Engagement Leaderboard. The company remains committed to its corporate responsibility goals, including reducing tobacco harm and preventing underage use.
2024 Outlook
Altria has reaffirmed its full-year 2024 adjusted diluted EPS guidance, projecting a growth rate of 2% to 4.5%, with expected earnings between $5.05 and $5.17. This outlook considers various market conditions and includes planned investments in smoke-free products and continued product development and regulatory preparations. The guidance excludes a potential gain from the sale of the IQOS Tobacco Heating System commercialization rights anticipated in Q2 2024.
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