Swedish Match profit rise just misses target

Swedish Match posted pre-tax profits of 757 million kronor for the third quarter, slightly below analysts’ expectations for the Swedish tobacco products company.

• EU commission quashes snuff ban rumours (19 Apr 12)
• Sweden mulls ban on smoking outdoors (15 Mar 12)
• New law makes snus users pay more for less (3 Jan 12)

The result is an improvement over the 693 million kronor the company reported for the third quarter last year, but fell short of the 776 million analysts had expected.

Swedish Match’s turnover climbed from 3.27 billion kronor to 3.6 billion kronor against an expected turnover of 3.65 billion.

The company expects the market for wet snuff, or ‘snus’, to expand in both Scandinavia and the United States in 2009.

“For the second half of the year, Swedish Match expects Group sales and operating profit excluding larger one-time items to exceed prior year. For the fourth quarter, Swedish Match expects that the combination of timing of shipments and promotions in the US and a weaker US dollar will bring Group operating profit below the level of the third quarter,” the company said in its report.

The company’s snus division continued to be a strong performer, with margins up to 48.8 percent from the second quarter’s reported margins of 42.6 percent and ahead of analyst forecasts of 47.6 percent, according to the Reuters news agency.