Altria Group (MO) Reaffirms 2022 Full-Year Earnings Guidance

Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) (NYSE: MO) is participating in the virtual Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference (CAGNY) today. Billy Gifford, Altria’s Chief Executive Officer, and Sal Mancuso, Altria’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will discuss how Altria is investing to support its Vision, how its traditional tobacco businesses continue to support its strategies, and discuss its progress within critical environmental, social and governance (ESG) focus areas.

“We are advancing our Vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future. In this respect, we are aligned with tobacco consumers and the FDA. It’s an ambitious goal, but one we believe will benefit tobacco consumers, Altria’s businesses, our shareholders and society,” said Billy Gifford.

Remarks and Presentation

The presentation is being webcast on www.altria.com in a listen-only mode, beginning at approximately 9:10 a.m. Eastern Time. Copies of the business presentation and prepared remarks and a replay of the webcast will be available at www.altria.com.

2022 Full-Year Guidance

Altria reaffirms its guidance for 2022 full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) to be in a range of $4.79 to $4.93, representing a growth rate of 4% to 7% from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $4.61 in 2021, as shown in Schedule 1. Altria expects 2022 adjusted diluted EPS growth to be weighted toward the second half of the year. While the 2022 full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance accounts for a range of scenarios, the external environment remains dynamic. Altria will continue to monitor conditions related to (i) the economy, including the impact of increased inflation, (ii) the impact of current and future COVID-19 variants and mitigation strategies, (iii) adult tobacco consumer (ATC) dynamics, including tobacco usage occasions, available disposable income, purchasing patterns and adoption of smoke-free products and (iv) regulatory and legislative developments.

Altria’s 2022 full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance range includes planned investments in support of its Vision, such as (i) costs to enhance its digital consumer engagement system, (ii) increased smoke-free product research, development and regulatory preparation expenses and (iii) marketplace activities in support of Altria’s smoke-free products. The guidance range also includes anticipated inflationary increases in Master Settlement Agreement expenses and direct materials costs and Altria’s current expectation that PM USA will not have access to the IQOS system in 2022.

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, loss on early extinguishment of debt, restructuring charges, asset impairment charges, acquisition-related and disposition-related costs, COVID-19 special items, equity investment-related special items (including any changes in fair value of the equity investment and any related warrants and preemptive rights), certain tax items, charges associated with tobacco and health and certain other litigation items, and resolutions of certain non-participating 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.

Altria’s Profile

Altria has a leading portfolio of tobacco products for U.S. tobacco consumers age 21+. Altria’s Vision by 2030 is to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future (Vision). Altria is 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, Altria’s businesses and society.

Altria’s wholly owned subsidiaries include leading manufacturers of both combustible and smoke-free products. In combustibles, Altria owns Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM USA), the most profitable U.S. cigarette manufacturer, and John Middleton Co. (Middleton), a leading U.S. cigar manufacturer. Altria’s smoke-free portfolio includes ownership of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (USSTC), the leading global moist smokeless tobacco (MST) manufacturer, and Helix Innovations LLC (Helix), a rapidly growing manufacturer of oral nicotine pouches. Altria also enhances its smoke-free product portfolio with exclusive U.S. commercialization rights to the IQOS Tobacco Heating System® and Marlboro HeatSticks®, and an equity investment in JUUL Labs, Inc. (JUUL).

Altria also owns equity investments in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI), the world’s largest brewer, and Cronos Group Inc. (Cronos), a leading Canadian cannabinoid company.

The brand portfolios of Altria’s tobacco operating companies include Marlboro®, Black & Mild®, Copenhagen®, Skoal® and on!®. Trademarks and service marks related to Altria referenced in this release are the property of Altria or its subsidiaries or are used with permission.

Learn more about Altria at www.altria.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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