Altria Group Inc. announced Tuesday a new structure the company says will allow it to maximize its tobacco businesses while growing its noncombustible products, like e-cigarettes.
The new structure includes:
- Establishment of two divisions – core tobacco and innovative tobacco products;
- Creation of a chief growth officer to accelerate speed to market for innovative products and technologies; and
- Alignment of product development efforts more directly to the core and innovative tobacco product businesses.
“This is a dynamic time in the tobacco industry, and just as we lead in traditional tobacco products, we intend to lead in offering adult smokers more choices in innovative, noncombustible, reduced-risk products,” Howard Willard, Altria’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “We expect this new structure to accelerate our innovation pipeline, maximize our core tobacco businesses and allow us to continue to reward shareholders.”
