Reynolds American Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit more than doubled to $292 million as higher prices and lower legal expenses offset a decline in cigarette sales, and it benefited from the year-ago comparison. The maker of Camel, Pall Mall cigarettes and Natural American Spirit cigarettes said revenue excluding excise taxes fell about 2 percent to $2.04 billion.
The number of cigarettes sold by its R.J. Reynolds Tobacco subsidiary fell about 9 percent during the quarter to 15.6 billion. Volumes for Pall Mall fell more than 6 percent and volumes for Camel fell 3.5 percent. Both brands gained market share.
SMOKELESS TOBACCO: Volume for its smokeless tobacco brands including Grizzly and Kodiak rose about 8 percent compared with a year ago. The brands had a 33.3 percent share of the U.S. retail market, which is tiny compared with cigarettes.

Reynolds American Inc (RAI): New Analyst Report from Zacks Equity Research - Zacks Equity Research Report

Reynolds' fourth-quarter 2013 earnings of $0.77 per share lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.2% but increased 1.3% year over year. Profit improved on the back of higher cigarette and moist snuff pricing. Net sales however slipped 1.9% due to declining cigarette volumes. However, core brands like Camel, Pall Mall and Santa Fe gained market share backed by brand-building initiatives. Reynolds' continuous innovations in the smokeless and moist snuff products are helping it to maintain a dominant share in the smokeless category. Moreover, the company's advancement in the e-cigarette category with the Vuse brand is encouraging. However, the high excise tax imposed by governments around the world is pressuring the company's margins. Additionally, anti-smoking regulations remain a persistent overhang. Again the tobacco sector is facing declining volume for the past few quarters due to shift of demand from cigarettes to other non-tobacco products. We, therefore, prefer to stay on the sidelines

Overview: Headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Reynolds American, producer of Camel cigarettes , Inc. (RAI) came into existence in 2004. Its subsidiaries include R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR), American Snuff Company, LLC, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc. and Niconovum AB.
In Jul 2004, the U.S. business of Brown & Williamson Holdings, Inc. (B&W), an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco plc was combined with R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR). This merger is generally referred to as the B&W business combination. Post the merger, B&W owns approximately 42% of Reynolds' outstanding common stock.
Reynolds' reportable segments comprise of RJR Tobacco, American Snuff and Santa Fe and All Other.
RJR Tobacco is a leading cigarette manufacturer, which operates mainly in the U.S. Its manufacturing facilities are located in the Winston-Salem area, known as the Tobaccoville manufacturing facility and the Whitaker Park complex. RJR Tobacco's largest selling cigarette brands Camel, Kool, Pall Mall, Doral and Winston are some of the best-selling cigarette brands in the U.S. RJR Tobacco also manages contract manufacturing of cigarette and tobacco products.
American Snuff is a leading smokeless tobacco product manufacturer in the U.S. It includes the primary operations of American Snuff Company, whose main products are its largest-selling moist snuff brands, Grizzly and Kodiak, Its manufacturing facilities are located in Memphis, Tennessee Clarksville, Tennessee Winston-Salem and Bowling Green, Kentucky. The American Snuff Company also makes loose-leaf tobacco (including Morgan's, Levi Garrett and Taylor's Pride brands), snuff (Garrett, Dental and Tube Rose brands) and an assortment of other smokeless tobacco products (including twist, moist and plug).
Santa Fe manufactures and markets cigarettes as well as other tobacco products under the Natural American Spirit brand. Its manufacturing facility is located in Oxford, North Carolina and its leased distribution center is located in Reno, Nevada.
Other segment describes the business of Reynolds subsidiary, Niconovum USA, which is a marketer of nicotine replacement therapy products in Sweden under the Zonnic brand name

Pot Smokers Perform Better Academically Than Cigarette Users

Here's some promising news for learning cannabis lovers. Scientists from the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of public health have reviewed reports from a study that involved 39,000 Ontario students from 1981 to 2011. The studies show that straight up pot smokers perform better in school than cigarette smokers and those who smoke both substances. Not only that, but less kids are smoking tobacco now than 30 years ago.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health asked students in Grades 7, 9 and 11 about their tobacco and marijuana use, and their academic performance. The study found that marijuana-only users did better at school than their counterparts who smoked only cigarettes or who smoked both cigarettes and marijuana. However, the findings reflect the fact that fewer students smoke tobacco today compared to 30 years ago, and those that do make up a very “marginalized, vulnerable” population, says lead study author Michael Chaiton, assistant professor in epidemiology and public health policy.

Logically, students that don't part take in the wacky tobaccy do better, according to Chaiton.

“Now there is a distinction between marijuana use and co-use with other substances, and it’s an indication of the changing social norms. So it’s not an absolute that they do better; it’s that social norms have changed and the population of people who use marijuana are more like the general population.”

Sometimes it's like everything from Cheech and Chong's Big Bambu album is coming true.

Jet captain warned Justin Bieber to stop smoking weed - report

A captain of a private jet which transported Justin Bieber to New Jersey last week (ends02Feb14) warned the star and his entourage to stop smoking marijuana onboard, according to an incident report. The Baby singer flew in to the state from his native Canada on Friday (31Jan14) to attend the Super Bowl football championship game on Sunday (02Feb14), but hit headlines when his private jet was reportedly targeted in a drugs raid after landing. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers and border officials are said to have searched the plane with sniffer dogs, but failed to find any illegal substances. Now it has emerged the captain of the jet warned the pop star and his entourage to stop smoking dope onboard while they were in the air. The revelation was made in an official incident report, obtained by Nbcnews.com, which states, "The captain of the flight stated that he warned the passengers, including Bieber, on several occasions to stop smoking marijuana." The report also suggests that Bieber, 19, and his group were rude to a flight attendant, adding, "The captain also stated he needed to request that the passengers stop their harassing behaviour toward the flight attendant and after several warnings asked the flight attendant to stay with him near the cockpit." The news comes amid mounting legal woes for Bieber, who is facing multiple charges in Florida stemming from a DUI arrest last month (Jan14), as well as assault allegations in Canada relating to a reported attack on a limousine driver.

UAE to propose plain packaging for tobacco

The UAE will propose plain packaging for tobacco products in 2016 for a more forceful impact, said a senior health official, adding that the aim was to make the UAE 100 per cent smoke free in two years.
The proposal will be floated GCC-wide in two years when health officials will be required to revise packaging of all tobacco products.Chesterfield Bronze



The current packaging, introduced in mid-2012, requires manufacturers to cover 50 per cent of the cigarette packet with pictorial warnings both in Arabic and English that are used on a rotation basis to deter smokers.
Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the UAE National Committee for Tobacco Control at the Ministry of Health (MoH), said a proposal to increase the current size of the display pictures from 50 per cent to 70 per cent was also being suggested. “We need a plainer packaging after two years,” she said.
“While we are making this suggestion, we are also going to push for a bigger size for pictures as an alternative,” added Dr Al Maidoor.
She said that by making the pictures cover 70 per cent of the cover and changing them often would make people know more about the dangers of smoking.
Plain cigarette packaging requires removal of all branding (colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks), permitting manufacturers to print only the brand name in a mandated size, font and place on the pack, in addition to the health warnings and any other legally mandated information. Appearance of all tobacco packs is standardised, including the colour of the pack.
Currently only a couple of countries in the world, including Australia, have plain packaging on cigarettes.
Various studies carried out by Australia before switching to plainer packs suggest that packaging plays an important role in encouraging young people to try cigarettes. This year, the ministry will be conducting the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) and a deadline of January 21 has been set for reinforcement of the anti-tobacco law, said Dr Al Maidoor.

Cigarette competition

The Sin Tax Reform Law, which restructured the excise tax on alcohol and cigarette products, has opened the market for new players, according to a tobacco executive.

Japan Tobacco Inc. general manager Manos Koukourakis said the sin tax law diversified the market and led to the influx of new foreign brands.

Koukourakis said the influx of foreign brands led consumers to try new brands of cigarettes.

“Because of the influx, consumers have more choices,” he said.

Data from an independent research firm showed consumers started to change cigar brands, following the enactment of the Philippine excise tax bill.

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. Inc., which used to control at least 90 percent of the market prior to the passage of the law, saw its share shrink to 76.2 percent as of June 2013.

JTI covers about 3.2 percent, while Mighty had a 18.7-percent share. British American Tobacco, maker of Lucky Strike, had less than 2 percent.

Smoking quit

The best smoking cessation aid on the planet is your own determination to stop. If you aren’t motivated and committed to kicking the habit, there isn’t a quit aid available that can help you. But if you are, any of them can work beautifully. Discuss the options with your doctor and choose the quit aid that best suits your needs.
When smoking cigarettes has played a large part in your life, quitting smoking may not be that simple. Fortunately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved seven over-the-counter stop smoking aids – five of these help in managing nicotine withdrawal symptoms, while the other two help in reducing cigarette cravings.
Here, you will learn about different proven stop smoking methods like Water Therapy, Psychological Therapy and Nicotine Replacement Therapy. This section also deals with other useful stop smoking aids such as nicotine nasal sprays, nicotine lozenges, nicotine inhalers, nicotine patches, nicotine gum and stop smoking pills.