Background and Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Background and Basis of Presentation:

Background

When used in these notes, the term "Altria” refers to Altria Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless otherwise specified or unless otherwise required.

At March 31, 2020, Altria Group, Inc.’s wholly-owned subsidiaries included Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; John Middleton Co. (“Middleton”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PM USA; Sherman Group Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries (“Nat Sherman”), which are engaged in the manufacture and sale of super premium cigarettes and the sale of premium cigars; UST LLC (“UST”), which through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (“USSTC”) and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. (“Ste. Michelle”), is engaged in the manufacture and sale of moist smokeless tobacco (“MST”) and snus products and wine; and Philip Morris Capital Corporation (“PMCC”), which maintains a portfolio of finance assets, substantially all of which are leveraged leases. In addition, Altria owned an 80% interest in Helix Innovations LLC (“Helix”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of oral nicotine pouches. Other Altria wholly-owned subsidiaries included Altria Group Distribution Company, which provides sales and distribution services to certain Altria operating subsidiaries, and Altria Client Services LLC, which provides various support services in areas such as legal, regulatory, consumer engagement, finance, human resources and external affairs to Altria and its subsidiaries. Altria’s access to the operating cash flows of its wholly-owned subsidiaries consists of cash received from the payment of dividends and distributions, and the payment of interest on intercompany loans by its subsidiaries. At March 31, 2020, Altria’s significant wholly-owned subsidiaries were not limited by long-term debt or other agreements in their ability to pay cash dividends or make other distributions with respect to their equity interests.

At March 31, 2020, Altria had a 10.1% ownership in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (“ABI”), which Altria accounts for under the equity method of accounting using a one-quarter lag. Altria receives cash dividends on its interest in ABI and will continue to do so as long as ABI pays dividends.

At March 31, 2020, Altria had a 35% economic interest in JUUL Labs, Inc. (“JUUL”), which Altria accounts for as an investment in an equity security. JUUL is engaged in the manufacture and sale of e-vapor products globally and is the U.S. leader in e-vapor.

During the third quarter of 2019, Helix acquired Burger Söhne Holding and its subsidiaries as well as certain affiliated companies (the “Burger Group”) that are engaged in the manufacture and sale of on! oral nicotine pouches. At closing, Altria indirectly owned an 80% interest in Helix, for which Altria paid $353 million in third quarter of 2019. The financial results of Helix are included in Altria’s condensed consolidated financial statements as part of its oral tobacco products segment (formerly smokeless products segment), with the 20% minority ownership interest in Helix (held by the former shareholders of the Burger Group) included as a noncontrolling interest. The final purchase price allocation, which is subject to post-closing adjustments, will be completed by the third quarter of 2020.

In March 2019, Altria completed its acquisition of a 45% ownership in Cronos Group Inc. (“Cronos”), a global cannabinoid company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. At March 31, 2020, Altria had a 45% ownership in Cronos, which Altria accounts for under the equity method of accounting using a one-quarter lag.

For further discussion of Altria’s investments in equity securities, see Note 4. Investments in Equity Securities.

Share Repurchases

In January 2018, Altria’s Board of Directors (the “Board of Directors”) authorized a new $1.0 billion share repurchase program that it expanded to $2.0 billion in May 2018 (as expanded, the “January 2018 share repurchase program”). In June 2019, Altria completed the January 2018 share repurchase program, under which it purchased a total of 34.0 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $58.86 per share.

In July 2019, the Board of Directors authorized a new $1.0 billion share repurchase program (the “July 2019 share repurchase program”). During the first quarter of 2020, there were no share repurchases made under the July 2019 share repurchase program. In April 2020, the Board of Directors rescinded the $500 million remaining in the July 2019 share repurchase program to strengthen Altria’s liquidity position amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Altria’s share repurchase activity for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was as follows:



(in millions, except per share data)	2019
Total number of shares repurchased	2.7
Aggregate cost of shares repurchased	$	151
Average price per share of shares repurchased	$	56.34

Basis of Presentation

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements of Altria are unaudited. It is the opinion of Altria’s management that all adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the interim results presented have been reflected in the interim condensed consolidated financial statements. All such adjustments were of a normal recurring nature. Net revenues and net earnings for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the entire year.

In the first quarter of 2020, Altria renamed its smokeless products segment as the oral tobacco products segment.

These statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes, which appear in Altria’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

On January 1, 2020, Altria adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments and all related ASU amendments (collectively “ASU No. 2016-13”). This guidance replaces the current incurred loss impairment methodology for recognizing credit losses for financial assets with a methodology that reflects the entity’s current estimate of all expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information for estimating credit losses. The adoption of ASU No. 2016-13 did not have a material impact on Altria’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

Additionally, on January 1, 2020, Altria adopted ASU No. 2018-15, Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract (“ASU No. 2018-15”). This guidance aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). The adoption of ASU No. 2018-15 did not have a material impact on Altria’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

For a description of issued accounting guidance applicable to, but not yet adopted by, Altria, see Note 13. New Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted.

Certain immaterial prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year’s presentation.