New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others in the anti-tobacco movement are working to turn America into a land without smokers. But what would an America without smokers look like? Leaving aside the fact that more than 20 percent of Americans would be gone (or, more likely, extremely irritable), cigarettes bring in significant revenues for state and federal government. In Fiscal Year 2010, the federal excise tax on cigarettes (currently $1.01 ... Jump to full article >>

Union Budget 2010-11 may have come as a positive surprise for tobacco companies, which were bracing themselves for an excise duty hike. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee kept excise rates unchanged for cigars and cigarettes. Structural changes in the excise duty on cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos coupled with an increase in rates, which had been proposed in the last budget to the tune of 10-18% have been kept unchanged. These items would cont ... Jump to full article >>

Q3 op profit drops 26 pct to 65.7 bln yen after price hike Annual profit forecast lifted to Y308 bln New FY2010 projection lower than Y310.9 bln consensus TOKYO, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Japan Tobacco (2914.T), the world’s No. 3 cigarette maker, posted a 26 percent drop in quarterly operating profit after a tax hike hit its domestic business, but raised its annual outlook as the resulting dip in tobacco sales was less than predicted a ... Jump to full article >>

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Reynolds American Inc., the nation’s second-biggest cigarette company, reports its fourth-quarter and full-year results before the stock market opens Thursday. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Continued growth in Reynolds American’s Pall Mall brand despite industrywide declines in the number of cigarettes being as taxes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma all increase. The Winston-Salem, N.C., company has promot ... Jump to full article >>

Altria Group Inc. has performed well even in a tough economy in part because of its diversification strategy in recent years, executives with the Henrico County-based company said Monday at an investor conference. The company, owner of top cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, has seen its share of the total “profit pool” of U.S. tobacco companies grow from about 46 percent in 2007 to about 55 percent in 2010. In part, that is because o ... Jump to full article >>

The governing Liberals need to put more money into programs that will help smokers butt out if they want to win the war on tobacco, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health says. Government funding for tobacco control has dropped over the last three years from nearly $57 million to $43 million, even though smoking is costing Ontario about $8 billion a year in health care and lost productivity, Dr. Arlene King noted in her first annual re ... Jump to full article >>

Jane Jones, Muskogee Against Tobacco program coordinator, says that when discussing the impact of tobacco use, the focus often turns to its tragic health effects and loss of life. However, every business and citizen in Muskogee County also bears a financial burden. Tobacco-Free Oklahoma Week, which runs through Sunday, highlights these burdens. The Oklahoma State Department of Health reports that the average Oklahoma business loses $3,734 each y ... Jump to full article >>

Altria Group Inc., owner of the biggest U.S. cigarette maker — Philip Morris USA — reports its fourth-quarter and full-year results before the stock market opens Thursday. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Whether the top-selling Marlboro brand continues to gain market share. Marlboro has gained market share as the number of cigarettes sold has declined industrywide in the face of recent tax increases, smoking bans and rising health concerns and social sti ... Jump to full article >>

Anyone who thinks smoking isn’t government’s business should consider one number: 3.5 million. That’s how many people in the second-biggest economy will die each year from tobacco use by 2030, according to a report by prominent Chinese health experts and economists. More than lives will go up in smoke. So will productivity, public money and growth. China immediately should raise cigarette prices, increase health awareness and ban smoking i ... Jump to full article >>

Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index rose for a third day, climbing 6.17, or 0.4 percent, to 1,523.61 at the 12:30 p.m. lunch break, heading for the highest close since Nov. 10. British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd. (ROTH MK), the nation’s largest tobacco company, rose 1.4 percent to 45.52 ringgit. Sales of illegal cigarettes in Malaysia fell in the three months to August to account for 36.7 percent of total industry sales in the cou ... Jump to full article >>