Philip Morris International (PMI) (NYSE: PM) is an international tobacco company, with

products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette
market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and
operating income of $8.9 billion.[citation needed]

Until a spin-off in March 2008, Philip Morris International was an operating company of Altria
Group. It had its first day of trading on NYSE Euronext’s New York and Paris markets following
its spin-off from Altria Group, Inc. as per March 31, 2008.[1] In its first quarter of operations as a
separately owned and traded entity from Altria, PMI had sales revenue of $15.6 billion and net
earnings of $1.86 billion as compared with $13.2 and $1.45 billion respectively for the first
quarter in 2007.[2]

With its Operations Center based in Lausanne, Switzerland,[3] it owns 7 of the top 15 brands in
the world[citation needed] and has a mix of international and local products, which are produced in
more than 50 factories around the world. PMI employs 75,600 people worldwide.[4]

Its main brands are Marlboro, Longbeach, L&M, Philip Morris, Bond Street, Chesterfield,
Parliament, Lark, A-Mild, Morven Gold, Muratti, DJI Sam Soe, Multifilter and Virginia Slims.

Altria
Altria Group, Inc.

Public (NYSE: MO)

Type
S&P 500 Component

Industry Tobacco

Founded 1985

Philip Morris, Kraft Foods, Nabisco

Founder(s)
Holdings Corporation

Headquarters Henrico County, VA, US

 Area served Worldwide

Michael E. Szymanczyk
Key people [1]
(Chairman) & (CEO)

Products See below

Revenue US$23.6 Billion (FY 2009)[2]

Operating income US$4.86 Billion (FY 2009)[2]

Net income US$3.21 Billion (FY 2009)[2]

Total assets US$36.7 Billion (FY 2009)[3]

Total equity US$4.07 Billion (FY 2009)[3]

Employees 10,400 - March 2009

Website Altria.com

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) (previously named Philip Morris Companies Inc.) is based in
Henrico County, Virginia, and is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton,
Inc., United States Smokeless Tobacco, Inc., Philip Morris Capital Corporation, and Chateau Ste.
Michelle Wine Estates. It 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, where
it has 3 seats on the 11-person board of directors. 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
headquarters in unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia, less than five miles West of the city
limit of Richmond and less than ten miles from its downtown Richmond buildings.

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., a moist smokeless
tobacco manufacturer; UST owned Ste Michelle Wine Estates, a wine company.
History
This section requires expansion.

Altria is a relatively new company that clearly emerged out of Philip Morris although the
strategic reasoning for the creation of this entity is a matter of speculation (the company
webpage provides one explanation). The onset 'rebranding' of Philip Morris Companies to Altria
took place in 2003 (Philip Morris would later split, with PM USA remaining Altria's primary and
only consistently held asset). One explanation is that the company wished to emphasize that its
business portfolio had come to consist of more than Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris
International; at the time, it owned an 84% stake in Kraft,[4] although that business has since been
spun off.[5] 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.[6] The rebranding took place amidst social, legal and financially troubled
circumstances.[7] In 2003 Altria was ranked Fortune number 11, and has steadily declined since.
In 2010 Altria Group (MO) ranked at Fortune number 137, whereas their former asset, Philip
Morris International topped them with Fortune rank 94.[8]

In 2007, Altria began selling all its shares of Philip Morris International to Altria stockholders.
The company also began a move to purchase cigar manufacturer John Middleton Co. from
Bradford Holdings, Inc., which went into effective in 2008. After Philip Morris International
spun off, the foreign Philip Morris companies halted the purchase of tobacco from America,
which was a major factor associated with the closing of a newly renovated plant in North
Carolina, approximate 50% reduction in manufacturing, large scale layoffs and induced early
retirements.[9]

In 2008, Altria officially moved its headquarters to Richmond, although this change was largely
symbolic. With few exceptions all blue collar, white collar, and executive employees had long
been based out of one the several Philip Morris buildings in Richmond and the greater Richmond
area (including the current headquarters in Henrico County, which is effectively West Richmond,
just beyond city limits). The move of white collar operations to Richmond took place after Philip
Morris sold its downtown offices in New York City a decade earlier. Asides from the Philip
Morris / Altria headquarters, some of their other buildings included the Philip Morris Center for
Research and Technology in downtown, the Manufacturing Center in South Richmond, and the
adjacent Operations Center which began shutting down in 2007-2008, as a result of the loss of
demand from PMI member companies. The layoffs beginning in 2007 had affected thousands of
Altria, Altria Client Services, Philip Morris USA, and contracted employees in Richmond and
North Carolina in 2008. While most employees were offered competitive "opt out" or
termination packages, the disproportionately low-wage, minority, and poor contractors serving
Altria employees received no benefits.

In 2009, Altria finalized its purchase of UST Inc., whose products included smokeless tobacco
(made by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company) and wine (made by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates).[10]
This ended a short era of competition between the new Marlboro smokeless tobacco products
such as snus, and those produced by UST Inc.
[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.[11]

Operating Operating
Net revenue Net revenue
income income
Activity in 2006 in 2006
in 2006 in 2006
(millions USD) (%)
(millions USD) (%)
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%