UPDATE 1-Altria takes $4.5 bln charge on Juul investment

Altria Inc took a $4.5 billion hit from its investment in electronic-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc on Thursday as it faced up to the financial fallout of a regulatory crackdown on the vaping industry this year.

The tobacco company had bought a $12.8 billion stake in the fast-growing e-cigarette rival looking to make inroads among smokers. Philip Morris walked away from merger talks with Altria in September as regulatory risk around Juul increased. Altria on Thursday cited increased chances of U.S. Food & Drug Administration removing flavored e-vapor products from the market as well as bans in certain cities and states in the United States for the charge.

Juul has suspended advertising in the United States, hired an Altria-executive as its CEO and revamped its management in the past few weeks. Altria also said it expects the Federal Trade Commission's request for additional information into its Juul investment to be resolved in the first quarter of 2020.

The company posted a loss for the third quarter due to the charge.