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Category: News This Week

  • Altria Revenue Down 3.1%, Forecasts Growth Amid Smoke-Free Push

    Altria Revenue Down 3.1%, Forecasts Growth Amid Smoke-Free Push

    Altria Group reported 2025 adjusted diluted EPS of $5.42, up 4.4% year over year, as the company highlighted momentum in its smoke-free portfolio and $8 billion in total shareholder returns through dividends and share repurchases. Full-year net revenues declined 3.1% to $23.3 billion, while revenues net of excise taxes fell 1.5% to $20.1 billion. In the fourth quarter, Altria repurchased $288 million in stock and paid $1.8 billion in dividends. The company also noted recent FDA marketing authorizations for additional on! PLUS nicotine pouch variants and continued progress under its multi-year Optimize & Accelerate cost-savings initiative.

    Altria expects 2026 adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $5.56 to $5.72, representing projected growth of 2.5% to 5.5%. Guidance assumes continued investment in smoke-free products, limited enforcement impact from illicit e-vapor products, and that NJOY ACE will not return to the market in 2026. The company reaffirmed its long-term strategy of building an FDA-authorized smoke-free portfolio while maintaining leadership in traditional tobacco, targeting mid-single-digit earnings and dividend growth through 2028.

  • Malaysian Health Groups Challenge Legality of Moot Nicotine Exemption

    Malaysian Health Groups Challenge Legality of Moot Nicotine Exemption

    Counsel for several Malaysian public health organizations told the High Court that former health minister Dr. Zaliha Mustafa acted unlawfully in 2023 when she removed liquid nicotine from the Poisons Act list, arguing the move was made without meaningful consultation with the Poisons Board. A lawyer for the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, the Malaysian Green Lung Association, and Voice of the Children, said the exemption left vape products effectively unregulated and accessible to minors for nearly 17 months, until the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 took effect in October 2024.

    Government counsel argued the case is now academic because the 2024 law regulates vaping and smoking products, and said the minister acted within powers granted under Section 6 of the Poisons Act after consultation with the board. Opposing attorneys countered that the issue remains live because the court must determine whether the minister erred at the time, adding that consultation must be substantive rather than procedural. The applicants are seeking declarations that the 2023 exemption order was irrational, unlawful, and beyond ministerial authority. The court set May 15 for its decision.

  • Boveda Changes Name to Vivi in Cannabis Sector

    Boveda Changes Name to Vivi in Cannabis Sector

    Boveda announced that its two-way humidity controls designed specifically for the cannabis market will now be branded as Vivi, though materials, construction, and performance remain unchanged. The new brand will anchor a broader cure-to-storage system for cannabis, and Boveda said a dedicated Vivi team will support customers as the company expands its long-term presence in the industry.

    The company—which caters to “moisture sensitive” niches such as cigars, guitars, and medical devices—said the move is designed to better serve cultivators, homegrowers, and consumers with branding tailored specifically to cannabis, while keeping the same humidity-control technology that has been used in the sector since 2007.

  • Oettinger Davidoff Transfers Ownership to Next Generation

    Oettinger Davidoff Transfers Ownership to Next Generation

    Oettinger Davidoff AG announced that ownership of the privately held Swiss company has been passed to the next generation of the Schneider family, according to Halfwheel. Lilian Schaffner-Schneider and Christine Ryhiner-Schneider, daughters of longtime owner Dr. Ernst Schneider, have transferred the company’s entire share capital to their direct descendants.

    Chairman Domenico Scala said the handover is intended to preserve and build on the legacy of Dr. Ernst Schneider and Zino Davidoff while ensuring the 150-year-old company remains an independent, family-owned business. The Schneider family will retain two seats on the six-member board, and the company emphasized that there will be no changes to the current management team. Oettinger Davidoff owns the Davidoff, AVO, Camacho, and Zino cigar brands, operates factories in the Dominican Republic and Honduras, and runs a global retail network that includes 65 Davidoff of Geneva stores, more than 170 Wolsdorff Tobacco shops in Germany, and 25 A. Dürr & Co. locations in Switzerland.

  • AIR Study Finds New Hookah Lowers Indoor Toxicants

    AIR Study Finds New Hookah Lowers Indoor Toxicants

    AIR Limited said a newly published, peer-reviewed study found significantly lower levels of indoor air pollutants from its OOKA electronic waterpipe and from e-cigarettes compared with conventional hookah and combustible cigarette use. The research, published in December 2025 in Contributions to Tobacco & Nicotine Research, was authored by cardiovascular researcher Dr. Ian M. Fearon and based on testing commissioned by AIR and conducted by Al Futtaim Element Materials Technology Dubai LLC in an unventilated facility.

    According to the study, conventional charcoal-heated waterpipes and cigarettes generated the highest increases in carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), and other toxicants. By contrast, AIR’s OOKA device, which does not use charcoal, produced negligible carbon monoxide and roughly 40% lower particulate matter than conventional hookah in single-user scenarios, while e-cigarettes produced the lowest particulate levels overall. In multi-occupant scenarios, elevated volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were observed primarily during cigarette smoking.

    AIR CEO Stuart Brazier said the findings support the view that electronic delivery systems may reduce secondhand exposure risks in indoor environments while maintaining social smoking traditions. The study comes as AIR prepares for a proposed business combination with Cantor Equity Partners III, which would take the company public on Nasdaq under the ticker “AIIR” in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

  • Vietnam Tightens School Accountability in Vape Crackdown

    Vietnam Tightens School Accountability in Vape Crackdown

    Vietnam introduced fines of up to VND10 million ($380) for school principals if students are caught using e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products on campus, under Decree 371 issued by the Ministry of Health. The measure, the first to assign direct legal responsibility to school leaders, comes as youth vaping among ages 13–17 rose sharply from 2.6% in 2019 to 8.1% in 2023. Students face fines of VND3–5 million ($114 to $190), with all products confiscated and destroyed, while large-scale illegal production or trade may trigger criminal penalties of up to VND1 billion ($38,000) or five years in prison.

    The enforcement framework supports Vietnam’s nationwide ban on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products starting in 2025, with early data showing declines in vaping-related cases and hospitalizations, signaling increased regulatory pressure on alternative nicotine products.

  • Natura Cigar Co. Tabs City of Palms as U.S. Distributor

    Natura Cigar Co. Tabs City of Palms as U.S. Distributor

    Dominican cigar maker Natura Cigar Co. appointed City of Palms Distribution as its new U.S. distributor, marking a key step in the brand’s international growth strategy. The agreement follows several weeks of discussions and is expected to strengthen Natura’s footprint in the American market while laying the groundwork for broader global expansion, said Dary Munoz, the company’s international sales director, in a press release.

    According to Halfwheel, Natura Cigars was founded in 2020 by Jacob Yfrach, and has a unique tobacco-growing operation in Constanza, Dominican Republic, a high-altitude, cool-climate region that allows for an extended growing season. The company emphasizes slow, temperature-controlled aging to preserve sugars and oils in its tobacco. City of Palms, based in Fort Myers, Florida, distributes nearly two dozen cigar brands.

  • South Africa’s Tobacco and Vaping Bill Still Likely a Year Away

    South Africa’s Tobacco and Vaping Bill Still Likely a Year Away

    South Africa’s Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill is unlikely to become law for at least another year, with further delays expected for implementing regulations, according to Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf of the University of Pretoria. The bill, first drafted in 2018 and reintroduced in 2022, has faced prolonged parliamentary delays that he attributes to disinformation, political distraction, and a lack of urgency.

    Ayo-Yusuf warned that the slow pace benefits the tobacco and vaping industry by leaving a regulatory vacuum as vaping and other nicotine alternatives gain popularity among young people. While acknowledging the need to address illicit cigarette trade, Ayo-Yusuf stressed that tobacco regulation is fundamentally a public health issue, not a trade-off between health and the economy. The bill has recently gained vocal support from the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, which described it as pro-poor and pro-development, arguing that strong tobacco control reduces healthcare burdens and protects public welfare, while illicit trade should be tackled through enforcement rather than weakened health laws.

  • Bangladesh’s Next Govt. Urged to Uphold Tough Tobacco Laws

    Bangladesh’s Next Govt. Urged to Uphold Tough Tobacco Laws

    Bangladesh’s interim government has called on the next parliament to endorse the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, after senior advisers accused tobacco companies of mounting heavy pressure to block stricter regulations. Speaking at a Dhaka meeting Monday (January 26), Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum and Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter said the ordinance—approved by the advisory council in December—expands the definition of tobacco products and tightens controls on emerging items, despite industry lobbying and revenue concerns. The advisers alleged coordinated efforts by tobacco firms to delay or dilute the measures, criticized government shareholdings in tobacco companies, and opposed plans by Philip Morris Bangladesh to set up a nicotine pouch factory without environmental clearance. Officials cited stark public health costs, noting Bangladesh records an estimated 564 tobacco-related deaths daily and annual economic losses of Tk 87,000 crore ($713 million) versus Tk 40,000 crore ($348 million) in tobacco revenue.

  • Vietnam Weighs Harm-Reduction Options

    Vietnam Weighs Harm-Reduction Options

    Despite sustained declines in smoking prevalence, Vietnam continues to face a wide gap between intent and outcomes, as surveys show more than 90% of smokers want to quit, yet only about 9.5% have been able to do so successfully. With around 15 million adult smokers, health experts say reliance on cessation alone has delivered limited results. With male smoking rates falling from 45.3% in 2015 to 38.9% in 2023, the slow pace of quitting has intensified pressure to rethink policy tools.

    To close this gap, policymakers and experts are debating whether to broaden the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms to include “risk factor reduction” alongside traditional measures. The Ministry of Health is drafting amendments for 2026 that emphasize bans on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, expanded point-of-sale restrictions, and tougher enforcement.