On the Call:Lorillard CEO Martin Orlowsky

Source from:  Associated Press 02/10/2010

Lorillard Inc., the nation's third-largest cigarette company, holds about 35 percent share of the U.S menthol cigarette market with its top-selling Newport brand. In spite of that distinction, investors and those in the industry have voiced concerns over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee plans to consider claims that products like menthol cigarettes have greater public health impacts, including among children and certain ethnic groups. While analysts believe a menthol ban is unlikely, the FDA could take some actions such as different warning labels or reducing the amount of menthol in cigarettes. In a conference call with analysts Monday regarding his company's fourth-quarter earnings, Lorillard CEO Martin Orlowsky discussed the FDA panel's upcoming review of menthol: "We believe the weight of the scientific evidence does not support a conclusion that menthol cigarettes convert greater health risk than non-menthol cigarettes. We also believe that the scientific advisory committee will indeed form its conclusions and recommendations based on the scientific evidence before it. We therefore continue to believe that the scientific advisory committee will not make a recommendation to the FDA that it ban menthol. … We believe that a ban on menthol would lead to a massive black market for contraband mentholated cigarettes and encourage the entry of totally unregulated products into the marketplace that would not meet even the basic standards for product integrity and quality." Enditem