Tobacco.org

• Altria Holders May Back Off on Push to Split Tobacco (Update1) 

Altria Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Louis Camilleri said in April he'd consider calls from shareholders to split the world's largest cigarette maker in two. Now investors may not want him to.

In March, the company had spun off its 89 percent stake in Kraft Foods Inc. Speculation grew that its international tobacco division, growing faster than the U.S. cigarette operations, would be spun off next to further unlock shareholder value.

Altria, which will probably report an 8 percent increase in second-quarter profit tomorrow, now may be better off taking on debt and buying back stock, some analysts and investors said.

``If you had asked me two years ago, I'd say spin off international,'' said Brian Barish, who oversees $10 billion, including 3 million Altria shares, as president of Cambiar Investors LLC in Denver. ``But now I'm decidedly mixed.''

Jump to full article »