Altria Group said on Thursday that its Philip Morris International unit plans to sell its stake in a Dominican Republic beer business and gain full ownership of a tobacco operation there, leading it to raise its 2006 forecast.

Altria, which holds a majority stake in Kraft Foods, also said that its board still plans to finalise its decision about spinning off Kraft, including the timing of that spinoff, on 31 January, 2007.
The announcement of the plans in the Dominican Republic came less than an hour after chairman and chief executive Louis Camilleri spoke at a Morgan Stanley conference, outlining details of why the Kraft spin-off should proceed and detailing growth opportunities for the company's tobacco businesses. The presentation "was even more positive than we envisioned", said Goldman Sachs analyst Judy Hong, who raised her rating on Altria to "buy" on Wednesday.
She said that Camilleri's remarks, which were also broadcast over the Internet, made it "very clear" that the spin-off announcement "is not contingent upon any legal development between now and then". The company also said that it expects cash will exceed its debt in 2007 by close to US$ 2 billion for the first time in the company's history. (pi)