CLAIM #42972 · Altria Group (MO) · 2024Q2 earnings call · Jul 31, 2024 · due Dec 31, 2025
“You are correct. The total legal fund is about $500 million. We pay our fair share of that based on shipments and you'll get a 1/4 of that this year in the remaining three quarters in 2025.”
Sal Mancuso · CFO
In context
“int is you need some time of a steady marketplace for the consumer to adapt to their new conditions. And we try to highlight that for a couple of quarters. So we're seeing some green shoots. You highlighted the kind of a more steady decline. But then we highlighted just the opposite with illicit vape, where we're seeing increased consumers moving over because of the plethora of those products in the marketplace and being readily available. So yes, there are some green shoots that we're seeing in the economics. Gaurav Jain: Sure. My second question is on this MSA legal bill which the industry pays $500 million max cap which will, I guess, run out by the end of this year. So can you just help us think about the benefit to you in Q4 this year and then further in 2025? Sal Mancuso: Yes, sure. You are correct. The total legal fund is about $500 million. We pay our fair share of that based on shipments and you'll get a 1/4 of that this year in the remaining three quarters in 2025. Gaurav Jain: And my last question is on leaf costs. So your key competitor was highlighting that leaf cost inflation which was almost low double digit in 1H is going to be lower in 2H and then unwind completely in FY '25. So is that something you are also seeing? And will that also be a benefit as we look ahead over the next 13 months? Sal Mancuso: Yes. Well, look, we engage with domestic growers, primarily they're fantastic business partners. They work really hard to provide us with high-quality leaf. You are seeing some inflation in the lead cost, their labor costs are up, fuel costs were up, obviously. We're blending multiple years of leaf in our product and as some of those economic factors move, it could influence our leaf cost. We're very fortunate in our businesses is that our cost”
Verify independently
SEC filings for MO ↗ · Claim quote is verbatim from the 2024Q2 earnings call.