Altria Wants FDA to Crack Down on Illegal Vapes

Altria Group Inc. is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to do more to crack down on unauthorized vaping products that compete with its own authorized products produced by Njoy.

“We believe the FDA’s enforcement approach is not of the scale or scope needed to bring about fundamental change in the marketplace,” Altria CEO Billy Gifford said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

He described the proliferation of e-cigarettes that the agency hasn’t authorized as a “threat to public health.”

Altria’s reported revenue fell 2.5 percent year-over-year to $5.58 billion. The drop was primarily driven by lower net revenues in the smokeable products segment, partially offset by higher revenue in the oral tobacco products segment and all other categories, according to media reports.

Altria’s (MO) revenue net of excise taxes decreased 1.0 percent to $4.7 billion. Adjusted diluted EPS decreased 2.5% to $1.15 to match the consensus expectation, primarily driven by lower adjusted OCI, partially offset by fewer shares outstanding.

“In spite of the absence of an effective regulatory environment, we saw continued early momentum from NJOY and believe our businesses are on track to deliver against full-year plans,” said Gifford. “We also demonstrated our continued commitment to maximizing the return on our investments and delivering strong shareholder returns through the sale of a portion of our investment in ABI and the subsequent expansion of our share repurchase program in March.”