EXHIBIT 99

                       REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
       Philip Morris Companies Inc.:

        We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Philip
Morris Companies Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the
related consolidated statements of earnings, stockholders' equity and cash flows
for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1997. These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on
our audits.

        We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

        In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present
fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Philip
Morris Companies Inc. and subsidiaries at December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the
consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 1997, in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles.


                                        /s/ COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.

New York, New York
January 26, 1998