New Tobacco Group Sets Targets for Production, Marketing in 2009

Source from:  Kunming Daily newspaper 01/19/2009

Hongyun Honghe Group - a new large tobacco manufacturing enterprise group incorporated on the basis of merger between the former Hongyun Group and Honghe Group in southwest China's tobacco-producing Yunnan Province - has recently unveiled its targets for cigarette production and marketing as well as profit making and tax generation in 2009. Under the targets unveiled on January 13, Hongyun Honghe Group will strive to produce 20 billion Grade One cigarettes (400,000 cases) and 50 billion Grade Two cigarettes (1 million cases) in 2009, with the Yunyan brand family expected to generate over 20 billion yuan (2.86 billion U.S. dollars) in annual taxes and profits, and with the Honghe brand family expected to see its annual output and sales volume go up to 100 billion cigarettes (2 million cases). In the year, Hongyun Honghe Group will strive to generate 36.8 billion yuan (5.28 billion U.S. dollars) in annual taxes and profits, with the ensured amount of annual taxes and profits to reach 36.3 billion yuan (5.19 billion U.S. dollars), and increase the market shares of its competitive brands to 235 billion cigarettes (4.7 million cases) or more. In November 2008, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration approved the merger of the former Hongyun and Honghe Tobacco Groups to form the new Hongyun Honghe Group. In 2008, the former Hongyun Group produced 145.4 billion cigarettes (2.908 million cases) for domestic sales, an increase of 2.25 billion cigarettes (45,000 cases) over 2007, and generated 25.303 billion yuan (3.61 billion U.S. dollars) in taxes and profits (including those generated by its operations in Inner Mongolia and Shanxi Province in north China), up 2.995 billion yuan (428 million U.S. dollars), or 13.42 percent, year-on-year. In the same year, the former Honghe Group produced 84.9 billion cigarettes (1.698 million cases) for domestic sales, an increase of 5.25 billion cigarettes (105,000 cases) over 2007, and generated 10.65 billion yuan (1.52 billion U.S. dollars) in taxes and profits, up 1.244 billion yuan (177.7 million U.S. dollars), or 13.23 percent, year-on-year. Enditem