Japan Tobacco 3Q Sales In Volume Down 48% After Price Hike

Source from:  Dow Jones Newswires 01/30/2011

TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914.TO) said Friday that its domestic cigarette sales by volume in the October-December quarter tumbled 48% on year, due to a drop-off after a last-minute rush to buy tobacco ahead of a Oct. 1 price hike. The world's third-largest tobacco company by sales volume after Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) and British American Tobacco PLC (BTI) said its sales during the quarter came to 20.3 billion cigarettes, down sharply from 38.8 billion cigarettes a year earlier. Higher tobacco prices--about 40% on average per pack--threw cold water on sales. A JT spokesman said the pace of decline in domestic sales is in line with expectations. The company experienced a steep, 28% on-year gain in tobacco sales by volume in the second quarter ended September, offloading 50.6 billion cigarettes. Of the total, demand related to last-minute buying accounted for 13 billion cigarettes, the equivalent of 1.1 months-worth of sales. JT expects its domestic sales of tobacco by volume to fall by at least 25% over the 12 months through Sept. 30. Enditem