Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) sold 15 per cent fewer cigarettes in the three-month period January-March compared to corresponding first-quarter results in 2017, and revenue from cigarette sales for the three months was down 14.4 per cent, the company said in its preliminary results for March.

Market leader JT sold 19.5 billion sticks in the January-March period, a 15 per cent decline on the 23 billion sticks sold in the same period in 2017. The company sold 7.2 billion sticks in the month of March, a 14.5 per cent decrease on March 2017 results. In March 2017, the cigarette maker sold 8.5 billion sticks, which was a drastic volume slip of 20.4 per cent compared to March 2016.
At JPY 116.7 billion (EUR 882.9 million), revenue from cigarette sales in the first quarter was down 14.4 per cent on the JYP 136.3 billion generated in the first quarter of 2017. Revenue from cigarette sales for March, at JYP 43.2 billion, was down 13.9 per cent on March 2017 takings.
JT’s market share of domestic cigarette sales remains stable. In March, the company had a 62.1 per cent share of cigarette sales. For the January-March period, JT held 61.4 per cent, a slight increase on the 61.3 per cent market share in the corresponding Q1 2017 results.