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In conclusion, there is now a consensus among governments and public health leadersworld-wide. No government authorized Philip Morris’ “lights” fraud, but now people both in Maine and throughout the rest of the world are living with the consequences of that fraud and deception.
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Remember Geoff Bible, the swashbuckling Aussie who led Philip Morris until 2002? I ran into him at the U.S. Open just as rumors were flying that Altria (MO), as the the tobacco giant is now known, was about to buy UST.
Now Altria has announced its $10.3 billion deal to acquire UST, the smokeless tobacco leader that markets Copenhagen and Skoal. And Bible, who is still an Altria shareholder, offers his take: "In principle, UST is a savvy deal, especially given the slowing U.S. cigarette market. I'm too removed from the businesses these days to talk about price, but they are clever managers. They do not do dumb things, do their homework thoroughly, and have a great balance sheet. They ought be able to wring out very good revenue and overhead synergies."
Actually, the U.S. cigarette business is more than slow. It's declining-at an accelerating rate, say analysts. Actually, the U.S. cigarette business is more than slow. It's declining-at an accelerating rate, say analysts. Perhaps this is because diehards are kicking the habit? Newsflash: Bible, for one, finally quit. . . .
"I'm old," Bible told me, suggesting that it's time. He's 71, still feisty, and he appears quite fit.
Handi-Hut Inc. http://www.handi-hut.com announced the sale of their 20,000th Smoking Shelter to Miller Brewing Company, to be utilized by Miller employees at their corporate offices.
Mel Cohen, CEO of Handi-Hut, stated, "We are pleased that Miller Brewing sees the benefits of smoking shelters. This is a win-win solution for all: smokers' rights and workers' rights. ... Non-smokers are protected from second hand smoke. Many employers and business owners find that accommodating both the smoker and non-smoker is more than just fair, it's good business. Workplaces that don't offer a designated smoking area have reported a substantial loss of productivity. Their entranceways are often crowded with smokers and are littered with cigarette butts."
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. said Thursday it agreed to stop selling its caffeinated alcoholic drinks after allegations that the products were being illegally marketed to underage people, but Miller Brewing Co. has yet to announce a similar move.
Miller Brewing, which is included in the same investigation, issued a statement saying that it has and continues to cooperate with investigators. Miller sells the Sparks and SparksPlus alcoholic energy drinks.
Some of Britain’s biggest listed companies, including several that have threatened to redomicile abroad, paid little or no corporation tax in Britain in 2007.
Research by The Times shows that FTSE-100 companies – Cadbury, Standard Chartered and British American Tobacco, which have a combined market capitalisation of £75 billion, employed almost 11,000 UK staff and generated more than £6 billion in global profits, – paid zero corporation tax in Britain last year.
Although there is no suggestion of impropriety, the research indicates that some of Britain’s biggest and best-known companies contribute startlingly little to the Exchequer in corporation tax. Most of the companies earn the bulk of their profits overseas, meaning that they also pay most or all of their taxes outside the UK, allowing them to offset these against domestic tax liabilities. In some cases, this allows them to pay no British corporation tax at all. . . .
A spokeswoman for BAT, the twelfth-biggest company in the UK by market value and the owner of the cigarette brands Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, said that its head office operated at a loss and that 99 per cent of its profits were earned overseas. She said that the company welcomed the Treasury’s decision to examine the UK’s tax laws.
A spokesman for SABMiller, the brewing group, which paid less than £100,000 in corporation tax in Britain last year, said: “We have a very small commercial operation in the UK that employs about 70 people and is only a developing business. All other profits are taxed at source.”
Philip Morris International expects earnings per share to rise 10 percent to 12 percent annually in the long-term after the cigarette company gets spun off from Altria Group Inc later this month, it said on Tuesday.
At the same time, Altria said its remaining businesses -- Marlboro cigarette maker Philip Morris USA and a 28.6 percent stake in beer maker SABMiller PLC -- should post long-term annual earnings per share growth of 8 percent to 10 percent.
The forecasts came in a news release ahead of an analysts' meeting to lay out plans for the companies after the March 28 spinoff of Philip Morris International.
The remaining Altria business should provide annual shareholder returns of more than 12 percent, including its dividend, the company said.
Brewers SABMiller <SAB.L> and Molson Coors Brewing <TAP.N> have agreed to combine their U.S. operations to create a business that will have annual sales of $6.6 billion and be the second-biggest market player behind Anheuser-Busch <BUD.N>.
The venture, MillerCoors, will generate around $500 million of annual cost savings by the third year after completion of the deal, which is subject to the approval of the U.S. competition authorities, the two groups said on Tuesday.
Smoking bans are likely to accelerate the shift already under way. S&N estimates that the ban in England that begins on Sunday will hit beer sales in pubs and bars by 5% and cut operating profits by £10m in the next six months. Smoking bans in Ireland and Scotland have knocked beer sales by up to 7%, and England will not fare any better, reckons Mark Hastings at the Beer and Pub Association.
Market researchers predict that more than a third of the global beer consumption will move to Russia and China.
A man may have found out firsthand just how nasty the competition is between the world's two biggest beermakers.
Isac Aguero, 24, said he was fired from his job with a Miller Brewing distributor, the same day a picture appeared in The Journal Times of Racine of him drinking a Bud Light, which is brewed by Anheuser-Busch Co.
The photo, taken Feb. 5, was part of the newspaper's weekly "On the Town" feature, which depicts the city's night life. . . .
"It was a Saturday and I wasn't at work," he told The Journal Times. "They can't tell me what beverages I can drink.
"Bud Light's my beer of choice, I always drink that. Just because I work there, do I have to change what I drink?"
INVESTORS IN ALTRIA GROUP GOT GOOD NEWS Thursday when the tobacco giant, parent of Philip Morris, said it likely will split itself into two or three parts once its legal problems recede.
Wall Street cheered the unexpected announcement. Altria's shares rose 5 points to 54 last week, and in a breakup, its pieces could be worth over $70 a share.
At a Morgan Stanley consumer conference in New York, Altria Chief Executive Louis Camilleri called the company's tobacco business "significantly undervalued"
British brewer SABMiller (SAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it was not aware of any change in Altria's (MO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans for its 36 percent shareholding in SAB after the U.S. company said it was mulling a break-up.
Dealers said Altria's comments increased the likelihood the U.S. firm would sell its SAB holding when it is allowed to do so from the end of June 2005.
Altria owns 430 million SAB shares as a legacy of the latter's purchase of Miller.
U.S. tobacco-to-food giant Altria is more likely to sell its $6 billion stake in London-listed brewer SABMiller (SAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research) from next summer after the U.S. firm said it was mulling a break-up, dealers said on Friday.
SAB, the world's third biggest brewer, said on Friday it was unaware of any change to Altria's (MO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans for its 36 percent holding and it had not indicated what its long-term plans were. Altria was not immediately available to comment.
"It (the stake) has been seen as non-core and something they will dispose of, and if Altria is broken up it's hard to see any home for that stake within the new demerged organisation," one analyst said. "It might accelerate that process."
Altria Group Inc. said third-quarter profit rose 6.3%, helped by a lower tax rate and higher income from its stake in brewer SABMiller PLC.
The maker of Marlboro and Virginia Slims cigarettes and majority owner of Kraft Foods Inc. said it also benefited from increased sales of its cigarettes overseas. The results were offset by earnings declines at Kraft Foods, which suffered from higher commodity and marketing costs.
If current foreign-exchange rates hold, the company should be able to reach the higher end of its prior earnings forecast for 2004 or $4.55 to $4.60 a share, said Chief Financial Officer Dinyar Devitre, during a conference call. Altria had given a prior forecast range of $4.50 to $4.60 share.
Smoking...is prohibited in the seating bowl and any enclosed areas, including inner concourses, restrooms, the Cadillac Club and Executive Suites. Locations where smoking is permitted:
* Colonnade Concourse
* Promenade Walkway (upper south rim of stadium)
* Miller Lite Party Deck . . .
First-time violators of the smoking policy will be asked to exchange their ticket stub for a "Smoking Card". Any patron refusing to exchange their ticket stub, will be ejected from the stadium. If a patron is then caught smoking in a non-smoking area for a second time, he or she will be ejected from the stadium.