Stocks: (MO)(GLH)(
Altria’s Philip Morris is the largest tobacco company in the world. That gives the company a lot of economies of scale, especially in sourcing tobacco and getting shelf space for its cigarettes.
It looks like the Marlboro man is getting some real competition in the merger of Japan Tobacco and UK cigarette company Gallaher.
Philip Morris is unlikely to have an problems with the new tobacco conglomerate in its home market of the US. But a look at the MO 10-K shows that international operations are almost three times as big as the domestic business. International is also growing faster. It brought in $12.7 billion in the last quarter. Operating income for the group was $2.1 billion.
Philip Morris volume was off 2.4% last quarter. Sales fell in key markets like Germany and Spain. Unit sales also dropped in Japan.
A new merged Japan Tobacco/Gallaher is not likely to help any of that.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writea about.
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