Altria Group's board of directors is waiting for a ruling in a racketeering case brought by the US Department of Justice against the tobacco industry before going forward with plans to split up the company, an executive said on Tuesday.

"The board of directors will take into consideration the litigation landscape, including the DOJ case, before making its decision," Dinyar Devitre, chief financial officer, said in a conference call with analysts.
Altria has said on several occasions that it was waiting for improvement in the US litigation environment before proceeding with a plan to spin off the 88 per cent of Kraft Foods shares it still holds.
The Department of Justice racketeering case is seen by some analysts as the last major hurdle the company is waiting to clear, after the company received favorable rulings in two other major cases in the past several months. (pi)