22 Apr 2010 18:17

Philip Morris Q1 cigarette sales tick up 1.5% in Russia

MOSCOW. April 22 (Interfax) - Philip Morris International Inc (PMI) increased sales 1.5% year-on-year in Russia in the first quarter, a company statement says.

Premium cigarette sales were down 10.4%, mainly because of the Marlboro brand, which dropped 15.8% year-on-year.

In the mid-priced range (Chesterfield), sales were up 5.5%. And in the low-price segment, Bond sales increased 29.3%, Next - 12.1%, and Optima - 10.1%.

Citing A.C. Nielsen figures, PMI said its share of Russia's tobacco market increased to 25.6% in Q1 from 25.1% a year ago.

Sales in natural terms rose 0.7% to 204.7 billion cigarettes, while those in the sales region of Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa as a whole dropped 5.2% to 64.1 billion. Thanks to favorable exchange rate variance, Philip Morris's sales revenues in the region increased 16.7% to $1.75 billion, and worldwide - 8% to $6.49 billion.