SM’s sales up and down

Swedish Matches snus shipments in Scandinavia during the three months to the end of September, at 61.7 million cans, were increased by about two percent on those of the three months to the end of September 2016, 60.6 million cans.

During the same periods, shipments of moist snuff in the US were down by about six percent to 33.6 million cans, while shipments of snus and nicotine pouches outside Scandinavia were increased by 74 percent to 3.5 million cans.

Swedish Match’s share of the Swedish snus market was down by 2.2 percentage points to 64.9 percent, while its share of Norway’s snus market was down by 1.2 percentage points to 52.0 percent.

The company’s cigar shipments during the three months to the end of September, at 405 million pieces, were increased by about one percent on those of the three months to the end of September 2016, 402 million pieces.

During the same periods, the company’s chewing tobacco shipments, excluding contract-manufacturing volumes, fell by about six percent to about 1,636,000 pounds.

Sales increased by one percent in local currencies, but reported sales declined by one percent to SEK4,069 million for the third quarter.

“This has been an exciting quarter for Swedish Match, where we have further demonstrated our commitment toward our vision of a world without cigarettes as evidenced by our efforts in modern smokeless products,” said CEO Lars Dahlgren in reporting Swedish Match’s third quarter and nine-months results.

“We have been introducing innovative new products, and continued to expand in new markets, organically as well as via the acquisition of the Danish smokeless tobacco business, V2 Tobacco.

“In the world around us, there exists a continuously growing interest, from consumers, industry players and certain important policymakers, in tobacco harm reduction. Where regulators have yet to acknowledge a more science-based approach to tobacco regulation, we have continued to make our voice and solid fact base heard.

“At the same time, we have continued our strong commitment toward our more traditional businesses, often in very competitive environments.

“For the quarter, sales and profit from product areas demonstrated resilience. Currency translation effects turned negative this quarter but sales grew in local currencies for both snus and moist snuff and other tobacco products…”