Altria Presents At The Barclays Back-To-School Consumer Conference

Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) (NYSE: MO) is participating in the Barclays Back-To-School Consumer Conference in Boston, Massachusetts today. During the presentation, Marty Barrington, Altria's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Howard Willard, Altria's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will highlight the strengths of Altria's diverse business model and review the company's plans to continue delivering strong returns to its shareholders.

The presentation is being webcast live at altria.com in a listen-only mode, beginning at approximately 11:15 a.m., Eastern Time. A copy of the business presentation and remarks, as well as a replay of the audio webcast of the remarks, will be available at altria.com through December 31, 2012.

2012 Full-Year EPS Guidance

Altria revises its 2012 full-year guidance for reported diluted EPS from a range of $2.01 to $2.05 to a range of $2.03 to $2.07, reflecting a $0.02 income tax benefit primarily attributable to the reversal of tax reserves and associated interest related to the closure at the end of August 2012 of the Internal Revenue Service audit of the 2004 to 2006 tax years. The revised forecast reflects estimated total net expenses of $0.16 per share as shown in Table 1 below, consisting of the loss on early extinguishment of debt and asset impairment, exit and implementation costs related to the current cost reduction program, partially offset by SABMiller plc (SABMiller) special items, a Philip Morris Capital Corporation (PMCC) leveraged lease benefit and the income tax benefit discussed above.

Altria reaffirms its 2012 full-year guidance for adjusted diluted EPS, which excludes special items shown in Table 1 below, to be in the range of $2.19 to $2.23, representing a growth rate of 7% to 9% from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $2.05 per share in 2011.

The factors described in the Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements section of this release represent continuing risks to this forecast. Reconciliations of full-year adjusted to reported diluted EPS are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1 - Altria's Full-Year Earnings Per Share Guidance Excluding Special Items
			Full Year
			2012 Guidance									2011						Change
Reported diluted EPS			$2.03		to			$2.07					$1.64					24%		to		26%
Loss on early extinguishment of debt								0.28					—
Asset impairment, exit, integration and implementation costs								0.02					0.07
SABMiller special items								(0.09	)				0.03
PMCC leveraged lease (benefit) charge								(0.03	)				0.30
Tax items*								(0.02	)				(0.04	)
Tobacco and health judgments								—					0.05
Adjusted diluted EPS			$2.19		to			$2.23					$2.05					7%		to		9%

* Excludes the tax impact of the PMCC leveraged lease (benefit) charge.

Altria's Profile

Altria directly or indirectly owns 100% of each of Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM USA), U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (USSTC), John Middleton Co. (Middleton), Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. (Ste. Michelle) and PMCC. Altria holds a continuing economic and voting interest in SABMiller.

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