Tag: Sweden

SM acquires V2 Tobacco
Swedish Match has acquired V2 Tobacco, previously a privately-owned smokeless-tobacco company primarily active in Europe.
The purchase price was not disclosed in a press note posted on Swedish Match’s website today, but V2 Tobacco, which was started in 2006 and which has its headquarters in Silkeborg, Denmark, was said to have an annual turnover ‘in the range of’ SEK160 million.
Annual production at V2 Tobacco, which has about 60 employees and which is said to have modern and flexible production facilities, is ‘close to 20 million cans of chew bags and snus combined’.
The company has a brand portfolio that includes Thunder, Offroad, and Phantom.
It is active in more than 25 markets, but its main markets are Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Germany, Switzerland and on-line. It is said to have a small but growing presence in ‘certain other European markets’.
‘In this transaction, Swedish Match will acquire 100 percent of the shares in V2 Tobacco (production and sales/marketing in Denmark),’ the press note said.
‘The current CEO and one of the founders of the company, Marc Vogel, has agreed to remain with the company, which will be operated for the most part independently from other Swedish Match businesses.
‘The closing date of the transaction is August 31st.’
“We are very excited about this transaction,” said Lars Dahlgren, president and CEO of Swedish Match. “A vibrant and independent V2 Tobacco business fits very well as a complement to our existing organization. V2 Tobacco´s modern and adaptable production allows Swedish Match improved flexibility and expanded opportunities to adapt to changing consumer desires, helping Swedish Match to move further toward its vision of a world without cigarettes.”
Meanwhile, Vogel said it had been important to find a buyer who shared V2 tobacco’s values and ambitions for the future.
“With their long history, competence and their extensive work with product quality, Swedish Match will give our operation in Silkeborg new and better opportunities to develop and grow,” he said.
September 1, 2017
Profit up at Swedish Match
Sales at Swedish Match during the second quarter to the end of June, at SEK4,214 million, were increased by eight percent on those of the second quarter of 2016, SEK3,920 million, the company said on Friday in reporting its first-half results. In local currencies, sales increased by four percent.
Operating profit from product areas (excluding larger one-off items and SM’s share of the net profit of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group [STG]) increased by eight percent, from SEK1,008 million to SEK1,091 million, and in local currencies by four percent.
Earnings per share were up from SEK4.01 to SEK4.49, while earnings per share excluding a dividend from STG in 2017 and share of net profit in STG in 2016 were increased from SEK3.72 to SEK4.18.
July 24, 2017
SM announces buy-back
Swedish Match said today that it had resolved to initiate a share buy-back program worth up to SEK250 million.
The program was due to run between June 20 and July 21.
The company said the program ‘formed part of Swedish Match’s existing strategy to return excess cash to its shareholders’.
‘Repurchased shares will be used to reduce Swedish Match’s share capital by cancellation of shares,’ according to a note posted on the company’s website.
June 21, 2017
Snus not appreciated
In a piece published by Bloomberg, Joe Nocera has described as ‘truly maddening’ the fact that most countries refuse to acknowledge the reduced-harm potential of Swedish snus.
Nocera starts his piece with the ‘astonishing’ fact that the number of daily smokers in Sweden is five percent, when the medical journal, The Lancet, defines as ‘tobacco-free’ a country with a smoking rate of lower than five percent.
He traces the massive switch that has seen Swedish smokers turn to snus and the almost-total risk-reduction that that has implied. When smokers were offered a nicotine fix without the carcinogens that came with smoking those smokers embraced that solution, he said.
What was truly maddening was that despite the powerful evidence provided by Sweden, most countries refused to acknowledge it.
‘Most tobacco-control advocates in the West continue to push the idea that quitting all forms of tobacco and nicotine is the safest policy – which is true, though it is a classic example of the perfect being the enemy of the good,’ he said.
‘And they continue to harbor a deep suspicion of alternative nicotine products.
‘Their understandable animus towards Big Tobacco has clouded their ability to see that replacing one kind of tobacco product (combustible cigarettes) with another (snus) can save lives.’
Nocera’s piece is at: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-08/sweden-figured-out-how-to-stop-people-from-smoking.
June 12, 2017
Snus milestone passed
Snus does not lead to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute published in the International Journal of Cancer.
The study, which looked at 400,000 men (of which 30 percent had used snus) and which was the most comprehensive of its kind within this area of research, did not find an increased risk among snus users, no matter how long a person had been using snus or how much snus he consumed.
The study used also findings from previous studies.
“The study results are the most significant scientific news on snus since 2001 when the cancer warnings on snus cans were removed following the dismissal of an association with oral cancer,” said Lars Erik Rutqvist, Professor of Oncology and senior vice president scientific affairs at Swedish Match. “This also means that the last remaining alarm on Swedish snus and an association with cancer now can be dismissed.
“For those who follow the development within this area of research, this conclusion was evident already in 2011 when the risk was dismissed in the largest study at the time. This was however not noticed by Swedish authorities, which was surprising.
“Hopefully, the results can contribute to lowering the reluctance of smokers who have not been able to quit smoking with other methods towards switching to snus.
“The current evaluation of the health risks associated with using snus now must be rewritten. This will of course have a significant impact on the political efforts striving to equate snus with cigarettes.
“The health risks are now to be comparable with other nicotine-containing products such as chewing gum and patches.”
May 12, 2017
Swedish Match sales up
Sales at Swedish Match during the first quarter to the end of March, at SEK3,775 million, were increased by six percent on those of the first quarter of 2016, SEK3,557 million, the company reported yesterday. In local currencies, sales increased by three percent.
Operating profit from product areas (excluding larger one-off items and SM’s share of the net profit of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group [STG]) increased by six percent, from SEK939 million to SEK994 million, and in local currencies by one percent.
Operating profit, including larger one-off items and SM’s share of the net profit of the STG, was down by 28 percent, from SEK1,711 million to SEK1,232 million. The first quarter of 2017 was said to have included larger onetime items of SEK238 million relating to the capital gains from divestment of shares in STG and sale of land. But the prior year’s first quarter included larger one-time items of SEK704 million relating to the capital gains from divestment of shares in STG and divestment of a distribution center property.
Profit was down by 34 percent from SEK1,404 million to SEK930 million.
Earnings per share were down from SEK7.44 to SEK5.06, while adjusted earnings per share were increased from SEK3.35 to SEK3.76.
May 9, 2017
Smoking plummets in Sweden
Photo by Risager
Data released by the Swedish government indicates that the proportion of male smokers between 30 and 44 fell to five percent last year, according to a story by Andy Coghlan for New Scientist magazine.
Overall, eight percent of Swedish men smoke daily compared with the EU average of just over 25 percent.
The proportion of Swedish women who smoke is 10 percent.
Professor Gerry Stimson, chairman of the European consumer group, the New Nicotine Alliance, which promotes tobacco harm-reduction, was quoted as saying that smoking was disappearing in Sweden.
This was due, he added to the popularity of snus, which had replaced smoking.
In January, the alliance co-launched legal action at the European Court of Justice aimed at lifting a ban on snus that applies to all the countries of the EU except Sweden.
“We’re bringing the case because the ban denies access to a product that helps people protect their health,” said Stimson.
The full story is at:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2124671-swedish-men-on-target-to-be-first-to-completely-stub-out-smoking/
March 15, 2017
E-cigs are medical devices, says Swedish Court
E-cigarettes and e-liquids that contain nicotine are medical devices rather than consumer products and therefore require licensing, a Swedish appeals court has ruled.
In a previous case from July 2014, Sweden’s medical products agency convinced the administrative court in Uppsala that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes should be deemed medical devices and that as many as 30 products should be banned from sale to consumers. An e-cigarette supplier in Malmo challenged the ruling shortly after, and the prohibition was lifted until the appeal was heard. Sales of e-cigarettes were allowed to continue during the appeals process.
Following the appellate court’s most recent ruling, however, it is now illegal to import, distribute or sell e-cigarettes and nicotine-containing e-liquids commercially in Sweden, and violators could face penalties of approximately $80,000 per offense. Further appeals of the court’s most recent decision are planned and could result in another temporary suspension of the ban until a final decision is made by Sweden’s supreme administrative court. E-cigarettes and e-liquids that do not contain nicotine are unaffected by the ruling.
March 12, 2015