Tobacco.org

Tobacco company Swedish Match names new chief executive, chief of finance 

Swedish tobacco company Swedish Match AB on Tuesday named Lars Dahlgren as its new president and chief executive. Dahlgren, 37, will assume the post on June 1, replacing former boss Sven Hindrikes who in February announced he would retire later this year. Dahlgren has worked at Swedish Match since 1996.

Jump to full article »

• Swedish Match checking tobacco-free snus complaints 

Tobacco products firm Swedish Match said on Tuesday it was investigating whether its tobacco- and nicotine-free snus product could cause cavities after dentists contacted the firm.

Swedish Match's biggest and most profitable product, snus, is a wet tobacco snuff that is placed under the upper lip. In 2006 the firm launched tobacco-free snus in Sweden, the world's biggest snuff market per capita.

Freddi Lewin, health advisor at Swedish Match, said the company had been contacted by two dentists in the past month saying patients using the product had developed cavities, and also by consumers with similar concerns.

The firm said it was taking the information seriously and had initiated an analysis of the production and the ingredients of the product, Onico, which is based on corn fibre.

Jump to full article »

Longhorn National Sweepstakes Winner Announced 

Kentucky resident Brian Henry takes the top prize in the Longhorn National "Win a New Bass Boat" Sweepstakes. Henry, who lives in Boaz, Kentucky, is the proud owner of a new Triton TR 21X2 Bass Boat, courtesy of Longhorn Moist Snuff in partnership with BASS. His grand prize, valued at over $60,000, also includes an exclusive fishing trip for two with Professional Angler Jeff Kriet. "Fishing is a passion for many of our consumers," according to Charlie Kivett, Brand Manager for Longhorn Moist Snuff. "Our relationship with BASS, the worldwide authority on bass fishing, allows us to connect with our consumers' lifestyle."

Longhorn is continuing its partnership with BASS in 2008 by launching the "Win the Whole Rig" National Consumer Sweepstakes.

Jump to full article »

Smokeless tobacco catches on as U.S. cigarette smoking wanes  

With U.S. cigarette smoking waning, competition in smokeless tobacco is smokin.'

The latest example comes from Chesterfield County-based Swedish Match North America, which has introduced its Red Man moist snuff nationally.

The roll-out follows a seven-month test in 11 states, including Virginia. Consumer acceptance was "overwhelming," said Elliot Eliades, the company's chief of new product development.

Cigarette consumption is declining at 1 percent to 3 percent a year, but moist snuff sales have risen about 7 percent to 11 percent each of the past two years.

Jump to full article »

• Red Man Moist Snuff Delivers! 

Swedish Match, the fastest growing moist snuff company in the US, announced the launch of Red Man Moist Snuff, the latest product to carry the most recognized brand name in smokeless tobacco. This follows a successful test market launch last year in 11 states, which represented 36% of the moist snuff category volume. "Consumer acceptance of Red Man Moist Snuff in the test markets was overwhelming," according to Elliot Eliades, Director of New Product Development for Swedish Match North America. "Through event marketing, retail intercept and website driven sampling we accelerated consumer trial by quickly getting 'cans in hands'. Early awareness scores indicated that Red Man Moist Snuff created significant consumer buzz."

Jump to full article »

Swedish Match: Full Year Report 2007 

* Net sales for the fourth quarter amounted to 3,527 MSEK (3,457) and 12,551 MSEK (12,911) for the full year

* Operating profit for the fourth quarter amounted to 1,062 MSEK (811) and 2,997 MSEK (3,285) for the full year

* Operating profit excluding larger one time items* for the fourth quarter amounted to 795 MSEK (811) and 2,730 MSEK (3,137) for the full year

Jump to full article »

Swedish Match AB Appoints Patrik Hildingsson Vice President Public Affairs 

Patrik Hildingsson has been appointed Vice President Public Affairs in Swedish Match Group (STO:SWMA). Patrik will have responsibility for Public Relations within Europe with a special focus on the regulatory situation for smoke free products in EU. In that role, Patrik will be responsible for and coordinate all Swedish Match AB's Public Affairs activities within Europe, including the Nordic countries and the US. Patrik will replace Tomas Hammargren who has decided to leave Swedish Match.

Jump to full article »

• Swedish Match Q4 beats forecasts, CEO to go 

Swedish Match reported quarterly pretax profits slightly above market expectations on Wednesday, sending its shares up, and said its chief executive would step down this year.

The tobacco products maker forecast higher sales and operating profits in 2008 after fourth-quarter pretax profit rose 14 percent to 976 million Swedish crowns ($154 million), beating a mean forecast of 956 million in a Reuters poll.

But margins for its biggest and most lucrative product, snuff -- a wet tobacco sold mainly in the United States and Scandinavia but banned elsewhere in the European Union -- fell short of expectations. Operating margins at the division shrank to 45 percent from 48 versus an expected 46.7 percent.

Jump to full article »

• EU Panel Says Oral Tobacco Is Addictive, Hazardous (Update1) 

Swedish-style snuff hasn't been proven to help people quit smoking, a European Union panel said, dealing a blow to tobacco companies that lobbied for lifting a ban on the product.

Smokeless tobacco is addictive and hazardous to health, the committee said in a report on its Web site. Evidence that the snuff, known as snus, may help Swedish smokers stop isn't sufficient to lift an EU ban because it's ``not possible to extrapolate the patterns of tobacco use'' to other countries, the committee said. . . .

``This conclusion implies that there will be no impetus for a change in policy for a lifting of the ban,'' wrote David Hayes, an analyst at Lehman Brothers who has an ``overweight'' rating on Swedish Match.

Jump to full article »

Swedish Match North America Announces the Freshest Cigar in the World 

Swedish Match North America, a manufacturer of market leading brands of smokeless tobacco, cigars, and pipe tobacco, today announced the introduction of a new Foil Fresh™ pouch packaging method for two of its popular mass market cigar brands, Game by Garcia y Vega and White Owl. The inventive packaging is a direct response to consumer requests for a fresher cigar.

Jump to full article »

Swedish Match says snuff hoarding half of last year's  

Tobacco products firm Swedish Match said on Thursday Swedes probably hoarded half as much snuff ahead of a tax rise in January as they did ahead of a year-earlier one.

A Swedish excise snuff tax rise at the start of 2007 led to distorted buying patterns for the firm's most profitable product segment. Snuff is a wet tobacco sold loose or in pouches and placed under the upper lip.

Consumers stocked up before the hike and stayed away from the shops in the following months, sending sales volumes up at the end of 2006, but down at the beginning of 2007.

Jump to full article »

• The match king  

By 1917 Kreuger was done with construction engineering; he founded the Swedish Match Company and his reign as one of the world's great monopolists—and financial engineers—began in earnest.

Just over a decade later in 1928, The Economist, writing of Swedish Match, noted: “It is curious that of the great international trusts in the industrial world there is none more firmly established than the colossus that has been built on matchsticks.” . . .

Swedish Match, he confided, had “not felt any effect of the present crisis...Often great unemployment causes an increase in the consumption of matches because people seem to smoke more cigarettes when they are not working.”

Jump to full article »

Swedish Match Cut to `Underweight' From `Neutral' at JPMorgan 

Swedish Match AB, the world's second- largest maker of snuff and chewing tobacco, was downgraded to ``underweight'' from ``neutral'' at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

``The primary drivers are the weaker-than-expected outlook for cigar margins on U.S. premium and European downtrading,'' analysts including Erik Bloomquist in London wrote in a research report dated today.

Jump to full article »

Swedish Match Net Tops Estimates; Payouts May Rise (Update2) 

Swedish Match AB, the world's second-largest maker of snuff and chewing tobacco, posted third- quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates and said it may use higher debt levels to step up dividends and buybacks.

Net income was 491 million kronor ($76 million), or 1.88 kronor a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, a 22 percent drop from last year's 627 million kronor, or 2.22 kronor per share, as tobacco taxes increased. The median of five analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey was 477 million kronor.

The shares rose the most in a month.

Jump to full article »

LETTERS: Smokeless Tobacco Aims at U.S. Market  

Jump to full article »