Tag: Featured

Stories featured at the top of tobaccoreporter.com

22nd Century Reports Financial Results

Photo: Firmbee from Pixabay
22nd Century Group reported a gross profit of $1.4 million in 2020—an increase of 9,413 percent over the previous year. Gross profit for the fourth quarter improved by 161.8 percent to $588,000 compared to the prior-year period. The improvement in gross margin was primarily the result of higher volume, price increases and lower labor and overhead costs driven by factory efficiencies implemented in 2020.
For the fourth quarter of 2020, operating loss was unfavorable by $696,000 compared to the prior year period. This was primarily driven by an increase in selling, general and administrative expense and was partially offset by higher gross profit and lower research and development spend related to the company’s modified-risk tobacco product (MRTP) application in 2019.
For full-year 2020, operating loss improved by $4.4 million to $19.2 million compared to the prior year, driven by the combination of higher gross profit and lower total operating expenses. The decrease in operating expenses was primarily driven by a decrease in research and development expenses related to the MRTP application in 2019, a reduction in personnel expense and an intellectual property portfolio rationalization that resulted in higher impairment in the prior year.
The company reported net sales revenue of $7.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 0.6 from the comparable 2019 quarter. For full-year 2020, net sales revenue increased 8.8 percent to $28.1 million compared to the prior year. The increase for both periods was primarily driven by higher volume and increased pricing in the company’s contract manufacturing business.
We look forward to monetizing a portion of our hemp/cannabis IP this year.

James A. Mish, CEO, 22nd Century Group
“As we look to 2021, we see tremendous commercial opportunity for our tobacco and hemp/cannabis franchises,” said James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, in a statement. “Our focus remains on our primary mission: to reduce the harm caused by smoking. Once we secure MRTP designation, we will capitalize on our VLN brand and begin to build our tobacco franchise through licensing and partnership opportunities in the U.S. and internationally.
“We have made significant progress in our hemp/cannabis research and look forward to monetizing a portion of our hemp/cannabis IP this year. With the majority of our hemp/cannabis operational partnerships now in place, we believe we will be able to commercialize our new disruptive, commercially valuable hemp/cannabis plants in development in two years.”
March 11, 2021
STG Pleased With 2020 Financial Performance

Photo: STG
Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) delivered net sales of DKK8.01 billion ($1.28 billion) and EBITDA before special items of DKK1.83 billion in fiscal year 2020. This corresponds to 6.6 percent organic growth in net sales and 14 percent organic growth in EBITDA. Net profit decreased to DKK678 million from DKK748 million.
While the Covid-19 pandemic created significant challenges across the entire value chain, STG benefitted from its strong online presence combined with increased consumption of handmade cigars in the U.S. The integration of Agio Cigars delivered the expected synergies and the company’s Fueling the Growth program was completed one year ahead of time.
“In a challenging year, we delivered a satisfactory financial performance,” said STG CEO Niels Frederiksen, in a statement accompanying the presentation of the company’s annual report.
“We saw solid operational performance across all three divisions, and we continued to deliver on all major efficiency initiatives ahead of time, but we also benefitted from an increased demand for handmade cigars in the U.S. A genuine team effort.”
In a challenging year, we delivered a satisfactory financial performance.
Niels Frederiksen, CEO, STG
The board of directors proposes an ordinary dividend of DKK6.50 per share for 2020, an increase of 6.6 percent compared to the ordinary dividend for 2019. This will be supplemented by a share buyback program of up to DKK600 million in 2021.
STG expects to generate organic EBITDA growth of more than 7 percent for the full year 2021.
March 10, 2021
BAT Unveils Ambitious New Environmental Targets

Photo: BAT
British American Tobacco (BAT) has unveiled ambitious new environmental targets in its 2020 environmental, social and governance (ESG) report.
In 2020, BAT announced its ambition to be carbon neutral for emissions resulting from its own business activities by 2030. The most recent commitment also aims to cut emissions across its value chain. This builds on BAT’s existing efforts to engage with suppliers on climate change and to support contracted farmers in adopting less carbon-intensive farming techniques.
Having achieved its water recycling target ahead of time, BAT also announced it will set the bar higher to increase the amount of water recycled to 30 percent by 2025. By 2025, BAT also aims to have 100 percent of all manufacturing sites certified by the Alliance for Water Stewardship.
In March 2020, BAT announced stretching new ESG targets as part of its evolved strategy to deliver “A Better Tomorrow.” The latest ESG report highlights BAT’s progress, including: increasing consumers of noncombustible products by 3 million to 13.5 million at year end 2020; increasing new categories revenue by 15 percent in 2020 versus 2019; increasing renewable energy to 26 percent—a 10 percent increase from last year and a greater than 30 percent reduction in overall carbon emissions since 2019; reducing water withdrawn by nearly 11 percent since 2019; holding more than 38,000 human rights training sessions, with more than 390,000 attendances across its supply chain; and reaching 38 percent of female representation in management roles.
We continue to drive for excellence across all areas of ESG, and we’re proud to announce our new commitment of expanding our carbon neutrality target to include Scope 3 emissions by 2050.
Jack Bowles, CEO, BAT
“This report gives a transparent account of our progress and our heightened ambition,” said BAT CEO Jack Bowles, in a statement. “We continue to drive for excellence across all areas of ESG, and we’re proud to announce our new commitment of expanding our carbon neutrality target to include Scope 3 emissions by 2050.”
March 10, 2021
Nicaraguan Cigar Festival Goes Virtual

Photo: Nicaraguan Chamber of Tobacco
Puro Sabor, the annual festival put on by the Nicaraguan Chamber of Tobacco, will be held virtually on March 15, reports Halfwheel.

“The Nicaraguan cigar industry is once again opening the doors of its factories but this time in an innovative digital format,” said Claudio Sgroi, president of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Tobacco. “Visitors will be able to virtually join Nicaragua’s most important tobacco producers and cigar manufacturers.”

The event will be presented by Light ’em Up World, a European-based digital platform focused on cigars.

The virtual event will include a series of master classes, panel discussions and round tables covering 11 topics, ranging from growing tobacco to blending, production and marketing. There will also be sessions focused on technology and innovation in the cigar industry and corporate social responsibility.

Reinhard Pohorec of Light ’em Up World and Ra’ed Saqfelhait of the Leaf Master Dubai will moderate and host the event.

Registration is required.
March 10, 2021
Cerulean Offers Aerosol Measurement
Cerulean has launched a new stand-alone Aerosol Temperature Measurement System (ATMS), the company announced on its website.
The ATMS is designed for research and quality assurance applications to measure the temperature of aerosol generated from e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products.
The ATMS monitors and records aerosol temperature on a puff-by-puff basis in real time and is available in multiholder configurations of one, four, five, eight, 10 and 20 channels.
Comprising a supplied portable computer with an intuitive user interface and ISO-compliant Cambridge Filter Holders, the ATMS can be fitted to any vaping machine and will record and display in real time the aerosol temperate during the experiment.
March 10, 2021
Illegal Tobacco Destroyed in Australia
Australian authorities destroy illicit tobacco at Beverford
(Video: OTA)
Australian law enforcement officers uncovered more than 40 hectares of illegal tobacco on properties on either side of the Victoria-New South Wales (NSW) border, reports The Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Based on the excise that would be charged on legal tobacco of the same weight, the tobacco’s potential value was estimated at $84.3 million.
More than 183 tons of tobacco was found during raids on a property at Kyalite, in southwest NSW. The Natural Resources Access Regulator participated in the action to investigate possible water theft.
“That’s the biggest crop we have discovered to date,” said Australian Border Force Commander Greg Linsdell, who headed up the taskforce.
Another crop was found on the same day at Beverford, on the Victorian side of the border, where ATO officers destroyed 183 tons of illicit tobacco along with 140 kg of processed tobacco bales.
The next day, another 60.7 tons of illicit tobacco was seized and destroyed on a third property at nearby Vinifera.
That’s the biggest crop we have discovered to date.
Gred Linsdell, head of The Illicit Tobacco Taskforce
Tobacco cultivation has been illegal in Australia for more than a decade. The country’s illicit tobacco market is worth about $822 million a year in evaded revenue. Linsdell said many organized crime syndicates, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, were involved in illegal tobacco production. “[The proceeds] are going into the hands of criminals to be used for other crimes, and buying this stuff, supporting this market, is a crime as well,” he said.
While charges were yet to be laid, those convicted of tobacco cultivation face penalties of up to 10 years behind bars.
March 10, 2021
BAT Announces Investment in Greece

Photo: BAT
British American Tobacco (BAT) will invest €30 million ($35.72 million) and create 200 new jobs in Greece, reports The National Herald, citing a company announcement. The investment will reportedly focus on BAT’s Glo Hyper tobacco-heating product.
BAT has paid €3.2 billion in taxes and social insurance contributions in recent years, supporting around 30,000 workers in its retail and distribution network and 10,000 workers in tobacco production.
BAT invests heavily in research and the development of new alternative smoking products. Globally, more than 1,500 scientists and specialists work at its R&D centers.
Originally launched in Japan, Glo Hyper came to Greece in 2018.
March 10, 2021
Securience and VapinDirect Merge

Photo: Alexas Fotos
Securience is merging with VapinDirect, an online vaping wholesaler. The parent to the DuraSmoke, Forge, AmericaneLiquidStore, and VapeMoar brands will officially become a part of VapinDirect beginning March 31, 2021, according to an email to its customers.
Last month, Securience announced it would be shuttering its business. In a letter to its partners, the company attributed its decision to a recent amendment of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act outlawing the shipping of vapor products through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
“A top priority of ours has always been to ensure guidelines and legal rules are held to the utmost standards,” the company wrote in its most recent message. “PACT Act raises these standards, and we want to ensure all our customers that they will be maintained. This merger will allow us to continue to distribute products business to business.”
Based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA, VapinDirect will take over Securience’s manufacturing capabilities in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. VapinDirect will also be adding thousands of products to Securience’s existing catalog.
“VapinDirect is larger and thus more financially stable, having about [five times] our employment level, and thus better able to manage growth and change in the industry,” Securience wrote. “Our existing employees will be added to their team and will continue to use the same ISO-certified processes and equipment in the same Wauwatosa location.”
The company will be contacting its wholesale customers over the coming weeks to introduce VapinDirect and clarify its shipping procedures. “There are many other challenges within the industry concerning PACT and this merger is one of the many ways we will continue to find a way,” the email states.
March 9, 2021
BATSA Calls for Inquiry Into Illicit Trade

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) is calling for an urgent inquiry into the country’s booming illicit cigarette market.
In some provinces, three out of every four retail outlets are selling a pack of 20 cigarettes below the minimum collectible tax rate (MCT) of ZAR20.01 ($1.30), according to a recent study by Ipsos.
The market research company found brands registered to Gold Leaf Tobacco Corp. to comprise half of all products selling below the MCT. Brands registered to Carnilinx were the next most prevalent, being identified as the cheapest brands on sale in 16 percent of the nationally representative sample of retailers visited, with 48 percent of these selling Carnilinx brands at below the MCT.
“These results are outrageous,” said BATSA general manager Johnny Moloto in a statement. “Even allowing for some of these purchases being stolen, smuggled or counterfeit stock, the sheer volume and range of brands available suggests that some manufacturers must be complicit in the sale of these products—whether through omission or active facilitation. There is no other plausible explanation.”
These results are outrageous.
Johnny Moloto
“South Africa urgently needs an uncompromising, comprehensive investigation into all players in the industry,” Moloto said. “We need a Commission of Inquiry as well as rapid enforcement by SAPS and SARS.”
March 9, 2021
South Africa: Cigarette Ban ‘Successful’

Photo: Heinrich Botha from Pixabay
A recent study shows that South Africa’s cigarette ban in 2020 helped reduce the number of lung disease-related emergency room visits, reports Herald Live.
South Africa banned tobacco sales from March to August 2020 to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In December, the country’s High Court ruled that the measure was unconstitutional. The government is appealing the judgment.
Published in the African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, the study showed that emergency center visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at the George Regional Hospital in the Western Cape fell by 69.28 percent between January and August 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.
Whilst the tobacco sales ban has had detrimental effects on economy, one of the benefits has been a reduction in emergency center attendance of patients with COPD exacerbations compared with that during the same period from the previous year.
“This notable reduction in COPD presentations reduced service pressure of emergency center and most likely benefited patients’ health,” the study states. “Whilst the tobacco sales ban has had detrimental effects on economy, one of the benefits has been a reduction in emergency center attendance of patients with COPD exacerbations compared with that during the same period from the previous year. Further research and policies are needed to ensure ongoing reduction in the prevalence of smoking.”
According to the study, only 9 percent of smokers quit during the lockdown.
An online survey of smokers found that 93 percent maintained their habit by paying up to 250 percent more for illicit products.
South Africa, Botswana and India implemented smoking bans as part of their Covid-19 restrictions. India’s ban lasted six weeks, Botswana’s ban lasted 12 weeks and South Africa’s ban lasted five months.
March 9, 2021