R.J. Reynolds Tobacco cigarette shipments declined 5.8 per cent in the first quarter in comparison to what the company said was an overall 4 per cent dip in the U.S. market.

Shipments of Pall Mall, one of company’s two major brands, fell 5.2 per cent while Camel volume gained 4.4 per cent, the company said in a statement today. Volume of the company’s other brands fell 13 per cent to 6.3 million sticks. Total volume fell 5.8 per cent to 16.3 million sticks in the three months ending 31 March.
A restructuring charge of USD 149 million (EUR 113 million) reduced operating income at parent company Reynolds American to USD 486 million from USD 623 million in the first quarter of 2011. Cigarette unit operating income accounted for USD 377 million of the total, down from USD 509 million in the first quarter of last year. Reynolds American in March said it would cut its workforce by 10 per cent, or about 540 jobs, as it reallocates resources to company growth areas.
Cigarettes made by Reynolds, which include Kool, Winston, Salem and Doral, accounted for 26.8 per cent of the U.S. market in the first quarter, a decline of 1.2 percentage points. (pi)