JT Fails to Maintain Momentum of July

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 09/13/2011

After staging a strong comeback in July, Japan Tobacco Inc's preliminary domestic-market sales in August, at 10.2 billion, were down by 21.6 per cent on those of August 2010. April-August sales, at 41.4 billion, were down by 33.6 per cent, caused in large part by the disruption to the company's manufacturing and distribution operations following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Sales during July, at 12.4 billion, were down by only three per cent on those of July 2010, while sales for June, at 8.9 billion, were down by 27.1 per cent. Part of the reason for the August reversal might be down to the fact that August 2010 figures were relatively high because consumers had started stocking up ahead of the October 1 tax hike. Sales for August 2010 were up by 1.1 per cent on those of August 2009 while sales for July 2010 were down by 6.5 per cent on those of July 2009. If this is the case, year-on-year sales figures will be seen to have dropped sharply this month but to have increased significantly in October. However, other factors seemed to be at work here because JT's market share during August was 57.5 per cent, down from 62.1 per cent in July. According to the preliminary figures, the value of JT's domestic cigarette sales during August, at ¥56.5 billion, was down by 6.6 per cent on that of August 2010, while the value of sales during July, at ¥68.9 billion, was increased by 32.4 per cent on that of July 2010. The value of sales during April-August, at ¥225.6 billion, was down by 10.1 per cent on that of April-August 2010. Enditem