Philip Morris Companies Inc

Philip Morris Companies Inc is one of the biggest world tobacco, food and beverage corporations. On January 27, 2003 it changed its name to “Altria Group, Itc”. Now this corporation owns 100% of Philip Morris USA (PM USA), Philip Morris International (PMI) and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. It is also the major stock holder of Kraft Foods (81%) and 28.7 % of SADMiller plc. This corporation gives workplaces to more than 80,000 employees.
The biggest supplementary of Altria Corporation is Philip Morris Company who is a giant in selling tobacco products. PM is the parent of legendary cigarette brand Marlboro, along with Parliament, Virginia Slims and Benson&Hedges.
Philip Morris International (PMI), is belongs to “Altria”, which is located in Lausanne, Switzerland. Due to its premium tobacco products, as Marlboro and L&M, this company has achieved worldwide popularity. More than 50 tobacco factories are spread around the entire world. Philip Morris International cigarette brands are sold in more than 160 countries. In 2005, the company had the share of 15% from the overall international cigarette market.
It all started in the 19th century, when Philip Morris, a small tobacco manufacturer, began selling his cigarettes in a small store. Now the business is a company with globally known cigarette brands.
The highest achievement of Philip Morris International was in 2005. The company sales have grown by 5.7% to 804.5 billion units, sold on tobacco markets of Indonesia, Sampoerna and Columbia. The sole cigarette brand Marlboro has registered an increase by 2.0% to 322.1 billion units sold in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Japan. This demand of Marlboro was seen in such big markets as Egypt, France, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
The most profitable markets for Philip Morris tobacco products are four key states: of France, Germany, Italy and Spain. This region accounts 2/3 of the entire PMI economic budget. Asia accounts 18% of Philip Morris International profits. The leading place with the biggest demand is the cigarette market of Japan (also the international leader in tobacco sales).