Lorillard increased its US market share by 1.4 percentage points to 14.2 per cent in the three months ended 30 June, without help from top-seller Newport menthol.

Newport’s share of the US menthol segment in the second quarter was unchanged at 36.6 per cent and stable at 36.5 per cent for the first half of 2011, Lorillard said in a statement today. Newport menthol is the top selling menthol in the US, according to Lorillard. Market share for the complete Newport line increased 1.1 percentage points to 12 per cent both in the three-and-six month reporting periods.
Domestic volume shipments, excluding Puerto Rico and US possessions, rose 10.4 per cent to 10.6 billion units in the second quarter, with the Newport line accounting for nearly 9 billion units of the total, a gain of 9.6 per cent, Lorillard said. (ci)