Altria Group (MO) Reaffirms 2020 Full-Year Earnings Guidance

Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) (NYSE: MO) is participating today in the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference. Billy Gifford, Altria’s Chief Executive Officer, and Sal Mancuso, Chief Financial Officer, will host virtual meetings with investors to discuss the company’s business fundamentals.

2020 Full-Year Guidance

Altria reaffirms its guidance for 2020 full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) to be in a range of $4.21 to $4.38. This range represents a growth rate of 0% to 4% from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $4.21 in 2019, as shown in Schedule 1, and excludes the special items recorded in the first six months of 2020, also shown in Schedule 1. While the 2020 full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance accounts for a range of scenarios, the external environment remains dynamic. Altria will continue to monitor ABI performance and conditions for adult tobacco consumers, including unemployment rates, disposable income (which may be impacted by the July 31, 2020 expiration of enhanced federal unemployment benefits, and potential future changes in government stimulus and federal unemployment benefit payments) and adult consumer purchasing behaviors.

Altria’s full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance excludes the impact of certain income and expense items that management believes are not part of underlying operations. These items may include, for example, restructuring charges, asset impairment charges, acquisition-related costs, COVID-19 special items, equity investment-related special items (including any changes in fair value for the equity investment and any related warrants and preemptive rights), certain tax items, charges associated with tobacco and health litigation items, and resolutions of certain nonparticipating manufacturer (NPM) adjustment disputes under the Master Settlement Agreement (such dispute resolutions are referred to as NPM Adjustment Items).

Altria’s management cannot estimate on a forward-looking basis the impact of certain income and expense items, including those items noted in the preceding paragraph, on its reported diluted EPS because these items, which could be significant, may be unusual or infrequent, are difficult to predict and may be highly variable. As a result, Altria does not provide a corresponding U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) measure for, or reconciliation to, its adjusted diluted EPS guidance.

The factors described in the "Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements" section of this release represent the continuing risks to Altria's forecast.

JUUL Investment Update

On September 3, 2020, JUUL announced additional steps towards its goal of resetting the e-vapor category and positioning JUUL for long-term success, including a significant global reduction in workforce and the possibility of exiting a variety of markets in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia-Pacific). While JUUL believes these steps are necessary to the company’s success, Altria must determine the impact of these steps, if any, on its valuation of its investment in JUUL. Consequently, Altria plans to perform a quantitative assessment in connection with the preparation of Altria’s third-quarter 2020 financial statements. This assessment will consider these steps, including any related cost savings, as well as recent domestic performance of JUUL products and other matters relevant to the analysis. If this quantitative assessment indicates that the fair value of the JUUL investment is less than its carrying value, the investment will be written down to its fair value. This assessment may or may not result in a material impairment charge.

Altria's Profile

Altria’s wholly-owned subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc. (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 owns an 80% interest in Helix Innovations LLC (Helix). Altria holds equity investments in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI), JUUL Labs, Inc. (JUUL) and Cronos Group Inc. (Cronos).

The brand portfolios of Altria’s tobacco operating companies include Marlboro®, Black & Mild®, Copenhagen®, Skoal® and on!® . Ste. Michelle produces and markets premium wines sold under various labels, including Chateau Ste. Michelle®, 14 Hands® and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars™, and it imports 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 Altria or its subsidiaries or are used with permission.

More information about Altria is available at altria.com and on the Altria Investor app, or follow Altria on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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