The decision by a federal judge to give class-action status to a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against cigarette makers will delay Altria Group's plan to spin off its Kraft Foods unit, an attorney for the company said on Monday.

"It inevitably creates some delay," said William Ohlemeyer, associate general council for Altria.
Altria has said that it plans to break the company into two or possibly three parts, separating Kraft from the Philip Morris cigarette businesses, but only after the US litigation environment becomes more clear.
"Today's decision is not a step toward clarity, it is a step back of sorts," Ohlemeyer said in a conference call with analysts and investors. (pi)