Altria reported its third-quarter 2024 financial results on Thursday, which included the tobacco company’s plan to cut at least $600 million in costs over the next five years.
Altria CEO Billy Gifford said the new “Optimize and Accelerate” initiative is designed to “modernize our processes, which we believe will accelerate progress toward our vision, and we reaffirm our guidance to deliver 2024 full-year adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $5.07 to $5.15.”
For the third quarter, net revenues decreased 0.4% to $6.3 billion, primarily driven by lower net revenues in the smokeable products segment and all other category, partially offset by higher net revenues in the oral tobacco products segment.
“The smokeable products segment delivered solid operating companies income growth behind the resilience of Marlboro, and in the oral tobacco products segment, our MST [moist smokeless tobacco] brands continued to drive profitability while on! maintained momentum in the marketplace,” Gifford said.
The cigarette maker said net revenues for the third quarter for smokeable products decreased 0.6% to $5.5 million, primarily driven by lower shipment volume and higher promotional investments, partially offset by higher pricing.
Marlboro retail share of the total cigarette category was 41.7% for the third quarter, a decrease of 0.6 share points versus the prior year and 0.3 share points sequentially.
In the nicotine pouch category, Altria said this category grew to 43.9% of the U.S. oral tobacco category, an increase of 11.4 share points versus the prior year.
The tobacco company which acquired the e-vapor company Njoy, whose products are now distributed by Altria Group Distribution Co., reported an increase for Njoy consumables. For the third quarter, Altria reported shipment volume of Njoy consumables increased 15.6% versus the prior year to 10.4 million units.
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