v3.26.1
Exit and Implementation Costs
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]  
Exit and Implementation Costs Exit and Implementation Costs
Pre-tax implementation costs consisted of the following:
For the Three Months Ended March 31,
(in millions)20262025
Smokeable products segment$5 $13 
Oral tobacco products segment1 
Total (1)
$6 $15 
(1) Recorded in marketing, administration and research costs in our condensed consolidated statements of earnings.
There were no exit costs for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025.
In October 2024, we announced a multi-phase Optimize & Accelerate initiative (“Initiative”) designed to modernize our ways of working and enable us to increase our organization’s speed, efficiency and effectiveness by centralizing work, outsourcing certain transactional tasks and streamlining, automating and standardizing processes.
We estimate total pre-tax charges for the Initiative to be approximately $175 million. As of March 31, 2026, total pre-tax charges since the inception of the Initiative were $130 million, consisting of employee separation costs of $43 million and implementation costs of $87 million. We expect to record the majority of the remaining charges by the end of 2027. All of these charges result in cash expenditures and consist of severance payments associated with employee separations, implementation costs for new technology and business advisory services and other costs. We record employee separation costs when probable and reasonably estimable. As of March 31, 2026, total cash payments since the inception of the Initiative were $103 million, consisting of $23 million for exit costs and $80 million for implementation costs.
A summary of the charges and cash paid for exit and implementation costs related to the Initiative is as follows:
(in millions)Exit CostsImplementation CostsTotal
Balances at December 31, 2024$35 $22 $57 
Charges48 56 
Cash paid(18)(61)(79)
Balances at December 31, 202525 34 
Charges 6 6 
Cash paid(5)(8)(13)
Balances at March 31, 2026$20 (1)$7 $27 
(1) Restructuring liabilities, all of which were severance liabilities.