The official website of Altria Group, Inc. announced on April 25th the first quarter performance for 2024, showing that driven by price increases and rising demand for alternative tobacco products, Altria Group’s Q1 sales exceeded expectations. The Q1 net income after deducting excise taxes was $4.72 billion (€4.4 billion). Shipments of On! nicotine pouches increased by 32.1% compared to the previous quarter, reaching 25.2%. Shipments of NJOY consumables were approximately 10.9 million units, while shipments of NJOY devices were around 1 million units. Retail spending in various malls and convenience store channels in the United States accounted for 4.3%, an increase of 0.6% from the previous quarter.
Highlights of the report include:
- The share of nicotine pouch products in the oral tobacco category in the United States increased to 40.1%, a 13.8% increase from the previous year.
- Sale of a 10% stake in the top beer manufacturer, Anheuser-Busch InBev (Brewer AB InBev), approximately 35 million shares, accounting for about one-fifth of its total holdings.
- The adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance for full-year 2024 is in the range of $5.05 to $5.17, representing a 2% to 4.5% increase from $4.95 in 2023.
- Marlboro’s retail share in the cigarette category remained steady at 42.0% compared to the previous year.
Billy Gifford, CEO of Altria, stated in a press conference, “We have made meaningful progress in pursuing our vision, and our high-margin traditional tobacco business continues to perform well in a challenging environment. Despite the lack of effective regulatory environment, we see continued early momentum in NJOY and believe our business is on track to meet full-year plans. We also demonstrated our ongoing commitment to maximizing investment returns and providing strong shareholder returns through the sale of a portion of our investment in ABI and subsequently expanding our stock buyback program in March.”
