Altria Sees '08 US Industry Cigarette Volumes Down 3%-3.5%
During a conference call Thursday, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer Over the last five years, the maker of Marlboro, Virginia Slims and other brand-name cigarettes has seen shipment volume decline by an average of 1.8% a year, less than the overall industry. "Retailers appear to be carrying lower inventories of cigarettes," perhaps due to the fuel-driven, higher carrying costs, Beran said. While only five states have raised cigarette excise taxes this year, about as expected, several states are targeting higher taxes on other categories, such as roll-your-own cigarettes and small cigars. "That also affected our thinking down the road," he said. For this year, PM USA estimates a total cigarette industry volume decline of 3% to 3.5%, compared with an April view of a 3% decline. Beran noted that even though second-quarter industry volumes were down
slightly more than expected, Moving more aggressively into adjacent products, such as spit-free smokeless tobacco pouch products, called snus, and smokeless tobacco, is one of the levers PM USA expects it can use to offset declining cigarette consumption, he said. -By Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http:// www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=%2B%2B0A4EKn7ZlAi6szOQUadw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. (END) Dow Jones Newswires |
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