Philip Morris USA Marlboro shipments fell 7.2 per cent to 29.1 sticks in the second quarter although the premium brand’s market share remained stable, parent company Altria Group said.

A shrinking US market and changes in trade inventories caused Marlboro and other premium brand shipment volumes to drop. Total cigarette shipments fell 6.7 per cent to 33.8 billion units. Total volume dropped an estimated 3.5 per cent when adjusted for shifts in trade inventories, Altria said. Discount cigarette volume rose 3.9 per cent to 2.7 billion sticks.
Smokeable products revenue dropped 3.8 per cent to USD 5.7 billion (EUR 4.3 billion), but operating companies income (profit) rose 5.2 per cent to USD 1.7 billion mostly due to higher pricing, the company said.
Growth was brisk in sales of smokeless products of US Smokeless Tobacco (Skoal and Copenhagen brands). Operating companies income rose 12.5 per cent to USD 270 million, Altria said.