UNITED STATES
Lorillard’s blu eCig market share falls below 30 per cent

Blu eCig lost substantial market share and the Lorillard subsidiary posted a loss in the third quarter as competitors introduced rival products, the parent company said.

Traditional cigarette volume at Lorillard fell 2.1 per cent to 10.2 billion sticks. Shipments of the flagship Newport brand dipped 1.4 per cent to 8.6 billion sticks, the company said. Cigarette sales gained 1.6 per cent to USD 1.8 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) and operating income rose nearly 16 per cent to USD 531 million in the three months ended 30 Sept. Newport popularity rose 0.3 percentage points to 12.8 per cent of the US retail market.
Blu eCig’s US market share for the 13 weeks ended 27 Sept was 29.7 per cent compared to 40.9 per cent on 5 July, according to Nielsen ScanTrack Database store sales surveys cited by Lorillard.
E-cig sales for the three months to 30 Sept plummeted to USD 38 million from USD 63 million a year prior, and the operating loss was USD 14 million. Third quarter sales data include USD 1 million in revenue from the United Kingdom.
"We faced a dramatically heightened e-cig competitive environment, highlighted by two new national competitive product launches and their associated "free trial" promotions during the quarter. We are encouraged by blu eCigs' performance during the quarter in the face of this competition, while also maintaining its premium positioning and avoiding discounting," said Lorillard Chief Executive Officer Murray Kessler.
Acquisition of Lorillard by Reynolds American, announced in August, remains on track and should close in the first half of 2015, Lorillard said.

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