Author: Staff Writer

Levels of tobacco use by young people in the UAE were described as shocking on Monday after a new study had found that more than one in five boys aged 13 to 15 was a smoker, according to a story in The National.

The teenage smoking problem was being blamed on the availability of cheap cigarettes and inadequate education about the health risks associated with the habit.

“We know that youth smoking is at a high rate and smoking among the young is on the increase,” said Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the tobacco control committee at the Ministry of Health.

“The use is high but the good thing is we are acting on this. The sale to teenagers is very highly controlled and marketing of tobacco is not allowed any more.

“Smoke-free areas are increasing and increasing across the UAE. We are making progress.”

A World Health Organisation study found that in the UAE 21.3 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls aged 13 to 15 used tobacco, and it found that most preferred cigarettes to other products, such as shisha or dokha.

The study found also that, among adults, 28 percent of men and 2.4 percent of women smoked.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare says that women in their 20s and men in their 30s are the least health-conscious Koreans, according to a story in the Korea Joongang Daily.

The ministry’s concerns were based on the results of a national health survey.

It is thought that young women and men smoke and drink at a rate that might be linked to stress, their jobs and Korea’s corporate culture.

In Korea’s hierarchical corporate culture, young employees are expected to heed senior workers’ insistence on drinking at office get-togethers.

The findings were part of the 2013 national health survey conducted jointly by the Health Ministry and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The survey polled people of all ages within 3,840 households.

Imperial Tobacco’s stick-equivalent volume sales during the year to the end of September, at 317 billion, were down by 7 percent on those of the year to the end of September 2012. Stick-equivalent sales include sales of cigarettes, and those of fine-cut, cigars and snus converted to cigarette-stick equivalents.

Meanwhile, the company reported that its stick-equivalent Growth-Brand volumes were down by 2 percent to 129 billion.

“Our growth brands account for a significant amount of our volume and revenue generation, and our aim is to increase this over time to further enhance the quality and sustainability of our business,” Imperial reported.

“These brands outperformed the market in the year, with volumes down less than the rate of market declines.

“Seven of our 10 growth brands grew share and on an aggregate basis, we grew the share of growth brands from 5.1 to 5.4 percent and increased net revenue by 2 percent.

“Growth brands now account for 41 percent of our total volumes, up from 39 percent last year, and 39 percent of tobacco net revenues, up from 38 percent last year.”

Imperial said, too, that while it was strengthening the sustainability of its core tobacco business, it was also pursuing opportunities for growth in other areas through its new standalone subsidiary, Fontem Ventures.

“Fontem Ventures has initially been focused on our entry into the fast growing e-vapour sector and will be launching its own products in 2014,” the company said.

“Fontem Ventures has also acquired further e-vapour assets and expertise from Dragonite International, a company founded by one of the pioneers of e-cigarette technologies, which has further enhanced our sector potential.”

Imperial’s tobacco revenue during the year to the end of September, at £20,881 millon, was down from £21,161 million during the year to the end of September 2012. Net revenue was up from £7,005 million to £7,007 million.

Operating profit from tobacco was up from £1,447 million to £1,888 million, while adjusted operating profit was up from £2,989 million to £3,003 million.

“Our focus on driving quality growth and transitioning the business has delivered another year of earnings growth and further strengthened our sustainability,” said Chief Executive Alison Cooper.

“Market conditions remain tough. We remain focused on maximizing our long-term growth potential, and in 2014 our priority is to continue transitioning the business: increasing investment behind our key brands and markets to drive quality growth, delivering our cost optimization program and implementing our stock optimization program.

“A reasonable working assumption for 2014 therefore is modest growth in earnings per share at constant currency, with another strong dividend increase of at least 10 percent.

“Our actions in 2013 and over the coming year will provide us with a strong platform for growth in 2015 and beyond.”

The Philippines’ Bureau of Customs last week seized a shipment of counterfeit cigarettes from China worth PHP18 million, according to a story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The fake Marlboro cigarettes, which had been declared as mono-acetate filter rods, arrived at the Manila International Container Port on Tuesday.

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, who was reported to have inspected the shipment together with the deputy U.K. ambassador to the Philippines, Trevor Lewis, said the cigarettes had been subjected to immediate seizure.

Lewis was quoted as saying that the risk to people’s health posed by their smoking fake cigarettes was greater [than that posed by smoking genuine cigarettes] because the counterfeits didn’t have proper filters.

“In reality, with the proper brand you have proper filters to prevent, offset some of the bad health effects,” he said.

“With these ones, they don’t have proper filters.

“They were produced as cheaply and as hastily as possible …”

Lewis said he was “pretty certain” that the fake cigarettes were destined for the U.K.

Had the shipment reached the U.K. and been sold there, he added, the British government would have lost $4 million.

Imperial Tobacco is due to publish its preliminary results for the year to the end of September on Nov. 5.

A live webcast and the slides of the presentation to analysts and investors will be available at http://www.imperial-tobacco.com from 8:30 a.m. U.K. time.

The presentation transcript will be available on the same site from 10 a.m.

Andrew Stanikowski will step down in March as CEO of International Tobacco Machinery Poland after leading the company for 22 years. He will continue in a nonexecutive role.

Stanikowski was instrumental in the creation of ITM Poland, which helped turn the ITM Group into a respected OEM and a leading innovator. Leszek Sikora will take over as CEO.

Sikora started in ITM Poland 1992 as an engineer. He occupied several positions before becoming a member of the ITM Poland Board in 2007. He is known in the industry as the father of many successful machines and projects.

“After 22 years of leading ITM Poland and making our company play a key role in ITM’s success, I have decided that the time has come to pass on my executive responsibility to the next generation,” said Stanikowski.

Arend van der Sluis, chairman of the ITM Group, expressed his gratitude to Stanikowski. “Andrew has truly become an ITM family member. In the past years, he has matured a nice group of people around him to make sure our company is ready for the next decades, as inevitably the time would come where one needs to think of life after work.

“When Andrew realized that this capable team was properly taking care of the heritage that he has co-created, he indicated that he wanted to pass on his responsibility to the next generation of people. We are very happy to keep Andrew close to us and to the industry in his advisory role.

“ITM Group is looking at a very bright future with many more new challenges that will see more great innovative solutions like Solaris, Isis, Delphini and our latest Saturn FIFO buffer. We are fully confident that Leszek and his team will to continue to build and develop our great company.”

New York City Council members have voted to raise the minimum age at which people can buy tobacco products from 18 to 21, according to a story by Cheryl K. Chumley for the Washington Times.

One hundred and eighty days after the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, signs the measure, which he is expected to do, the ban will go into effect.

At that time, those under 21 years of age will not be able to buy tobacco products or electronic cigarettes.

The measure will ban, too, discounts on tobacco products.

And it will increase the punishments that can be imposed on those found to be trying to evade tobacco-related taxes.

Chumley pointed out that while New York City isn’t the only city in the U.S. to ban sales of tobacco products to those under 21, it is the largest. Needham, Massachusetts, raised the minimum age to 21 eight years ago, and several other states and jurisdictions have set the minimum age at 19.

Imperial Tobacco’s Czech operations have supported a competition to find the best sniffer dogs used by customs officials to detect illicit tobacco.

The contest, staged at the customs training centre in north Bohemia, involved dogs from Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia, as well as Czech dogs.

The aim of the competition was to recognize the skills of the sniffer dogs and their handlers in the ongoing fight against the illicit trade.

“Around eight out of 10 seizures of illegal tobacco result from using trained sniffer dogs,” said Josef Dušánek, head of the dog section for Czech customs.

“So we’re grateful for the support of Imperial Tobacco in helping us to stage this international competition where dogs and handlers can pit their skills against each other.”

Photo: Kamil Provaznik, Imperial’s finance and CLA manager for Czech Republic and Slovakia (second left), meets with Josef Dušánek, with Czech customs dog handlers and their animals in attendance.

Universal Corporation is due to webcast a conference call from 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Nov. 5 following the release of its second-quarter results after market close on that date.

The conference call, which will be available on a listen-only basis at www.universalcorp.com, will be hosted by Candace C. Formacek, vice president and treasurer.

A replay of the conference call will be available at the same address until Feb. 5, and a taped replay will also be available from 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 until Nov. 19 at (855) 859-2056. The telephone replay identification number is 92538183.

NDC Infrared Engineering has appointed Terry Patterson as vice president of global customer care for its sensors, systems and metals divisions. Patterson’s responsibilities involve managing NDC’s customer care division and for developing its various support products that are designed to maximize the return on investment for its customers.

Patterson has 25 years of experience in service management in higher education and companies such as NCR, AT&T, Northrop Grumman, Art Center College of Design and Rapiscan Systems. He holds both a Bachelor of Science and an MBA from the University of Redlands in California, USA.