Philip Morris USA volume dropped 2.5 per cent in the first quarter and its flagship Marlboro brand by about the same due to general industry decline and shifts in trade inventories, said parent company Altria Group.

Marlboro represented 24.8 billion of 28.7 billion cigarettes shipped in the first three months of the year. Sales were comparable to the year-ago period. Profit at USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.1 billion) fell 20.3 per cent without the windfall tobacco settlement adjustment paid out to PM USA and other tobacco companies at the onset of 2013.
PM USA’s share of the Non Participating Manufacture (NPM) settlement last year was USD 483 million. About USD 64 million in interest income was recorded in the first quarter of this year, funds that Altria said are related to the NPM arbitration decision.
A national launch for Mark Ten, made by Altria’s e-cigarette unit Nu Mark, will start in June. Nu Mark closed acquisition of the Green Smoke e-vapor business in the reporting period.
Marlboro market share rose 0.2 percentage points to 43.8 per cent of the US market, Altria said.