Altria Group CEO Marty Barrington is stepping down this year, tasking his top deputy with steering the Marlboro maker through one of the most difficult transitions in tobacco-industry history.
Barrington, who turns 65 this year, will retire in May after six years as chairman and CEO, Altria said on Thursday. Howard Willard, a 54-year-old who currently serves as chief operating officer, will then take the helm.
“Howard has been essential to that team and is immensely qualified and ready to take Altria forward when I step away in May,” Barrington said in the statement.
Willard has his work cut out for him. Smoking rates continue to decline, and Altria’s plan for a new product solution has hit a snag.
Altria has a licensing agreement with Philip Morris International to sell its iQos product in the US if it’s approved by regulators. But a Food and Drug Administration panel concluded in an 8-to-0 vote that Philip Morris hadn’t shown that the heat-not-burn gadget reduces the risk of tobacco-related ailments for smokers who make a complete switch.
The FDA’s final judgment is still up in the air, and Altria could put iQos on US shelves if the agency approves a different application that allows for sales without a reduced-risk label.
Disappointing Forecast
Altria also posted an earnings forecast on Thursday that missed Wall Street projections. The company expects profit of $3.90 to $4.03 a share this year, excluding some items. Analysts had estimated $4.18.
Shares of the company fell as much as 2.7% to $68.46 on Thursday. They had dropped 1.5% this year through Wednesday’s close.
The outlook suggests that the Richmond, Virginia-based company’s new golden goose - next-generation tobacco products - isn’t materialising soon. And its traditional revenue source, cigarettes, continues to lose customers.
To make up for shrinking cigarette volumes, Altria has been raising prices and cutting costs. Altria set a target of reducing expenses by $300 million by the end of 2017. Factory closings will provide an additional $50 million in savings by the end of this year.
But those moves only go so far in a declining industry. Smokeable-product net revenue fell 3.2% in the latest quarter and 0.9% for all of last year. Industry cigarette volumes declined by 4.5%, according to the statement.
Altria also saw shrinking volumes in its smokeless segments in the quarter, pushed down by Skoal. The company issued a recall for Skoal and Copenhagen products made in one of its factories in February 2017 after reports of metal objects within cans.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
