The cigarettes of the future could be safer, cheaper and less taboo than the smokes of the past. But they also threaten to upend decades of antismoking efforts.

1 “We’re Big Tobacco in disguise.”

When electronic cigarettes made their debut in the U.S. about five years ago, they seemed like a threat to the traditional cigarette industry.

The battery powered devices, which turn nicotine laced liquid into vapor, promised a less harmful and more socially acceptable alternative to combustible paper and tar cigarettes and they were cheaper, not being subject to hefty tobacco taxes.

Already, the underdog industry is on track to hit nearly $2 billion in sales for 2013, tripling its 2012 figures, says Wells Fargo WFC 0.33% Wells Fargo & Co. U.S. NYSE $48.93 0.16 0.33% April 17, 2014 4 00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) 19.25M AFTER HOURS $48.93 0.00 0.00% April 17, 2014 6 20 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) 150,886 P/E Ratio 11.96 Market Cap $258.49 Billion Dividend Yield 2.45% Rev. per Employee $331,971 04/17/14 Citi Promises Have A Familiar … 04/16/14 Reserve Releases, Once a Big B… 04/16/14 Bye Bye Refi Boom More quote details and news WFC in Your Value Your Change Short position tobacco analyst Bonnie Herzog. And although the market for traditional cigarettes is still far bigger topping $80 billion Ms. Herzog predicts that e cigarettes could surpass old fashioned smokes in popularity within a decade.

But Big Tobacco brooks no challenge. The Big Three Altria Group, MO 0.23% Altria Group Inc. U.S. NYSE $38.45 0.09 0.23% April 17, 2014 4 00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) 8.40M AFTER HOURS $38.45 0.00 0.00% April 17, 2014 5 20 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) 97,704 P/E Ratio 17.01 Market Cap $76.26 Billion Dividend Yield 4.99% Rev. per Employee $1,962,560 04/15/14 Philip Morris USA Pays $3.3 Bi… 03/03/14 Lorillard Shares Soar After Re… 02/19/14 Rise of the E Cigarette The M… More quote details and news MO in Your Value Your Change Short position Reynolds American RAI 0.16% Reynolds American Inc. U.S. NYSE $54.90 0.09 0.16% April 17, 2014 4 01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) 4.12M AFTER HOURS $54.90 0.00 0.01% April 17, 2014 4 35 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) 19,534 P/E Ratio 17.48 Market Cap $29.50 Billion Dividend Yield 4.88% Rev. per Employee $1,556,900 04/16/14 Reynolds American For
mer CEO S… 03/03/14 Lorillard Shares Soar After Re… 02/19/14 Altria To Launch MarkTen E Cig… More quote details and news RAI in Your Value Your Change Short position and Lorillard have all made forays into e cigarettes in the past two years.

Cigarettes online and tobacco brands news

Cdc – fact sheet – adult cigarette smoking in the united states – smoking & tobacco use
Dunhill cigarettes from Europe find here

Consumer goods maker ITC Ltd said on Friday its net profit in the quarter ended 30 September rose 21.2% from a year earlier to Rs.1,836.42 crore on account of a healthy expansion in margins from cigarettes. The segment accounted for 78.2% of the company’s pre tax profit of Rs.2,661.1 crore during the three month period. ITC’s net revenue from operations during the quarter grew 19.6% to Rs.7,146 crore, driven largely by robust sales of cigarettes, agricultural products and packaged foods, the company said in a statement.

The performance of its hotels and paperboards businesses was a disappointment, according to analysts. The revenue growth was better than expected, according to Anand Shah, an analyst at Elara Capital. “We had expected a revenue growth of around 15%,” he said. The stock gained 2.09% to close at Rs.297.50 on BSE, while the bourse’s benchmark Sensex lost 0.58% in a weak market to close at 18,682.31 points. Net revenue from cigarettes grew 14% to Rs.3,385.15 crore, while revenue from agricultural products jumped 41% to Rs.2,023.88 crore. ITC attributed this impressive growth in revenue to gains in wheat exports.

ITC’s pre tax profit from cigarettes rose 26.1% to Rs.2,080.17 crore from a year ago and 9.5% from the preceding quarter. Operating margin from cigarettes, calculated on net revenue, expanded from 58.24% a year ago and from 57.5% in the previous quarter to 61.4% in the September quarter this was the highest in recent years, according to analysts. The company said cigarette sales by volume were under “severe pressure” because of disproportionate taxes compared with other tobacco products. The launch of new brands of cigarettes less than 65mm long has “met with favourable consumer response”, ITC said in its statement.

Cigarette sales grew 2.4% quarter on quarter by value. ITC’s earnings were “well ahead of expectations”, said Ritwik Rai, a consumer goods analyst at Kotak Securities Ltd. The 14% year on year increase in net revenue from cigarettes as well as the margin expansion in the segment beat Kotak’s estimates, he said in a statement. In line with expectations, the company’s hotels business continued to perform sluggishly revenue from the segment at Rs.216.96 crore was 6.6% lower than the previous quarter, though it was marginally higher than the same period last year. Pre tax profit from the segment at Rs.15.3 crore was 64.77% lower than last year and 41.66% lower than the quarter ended 30 June.

The segment was impacted by “weak economic conditions” in countries from which ITC’s hotels receive guests and by the addition in capacity in key Indian cities, the company said in its statement. The company’s revenue from consumer goods other than cigarettes grew 26.1% to Rs.1,690.8 crore from the year earlier. Sequentially, it was up 14.8%. ITC managed to pare losses in the segment from Rs.38.84 crore in the previous quarter and from Rs.55.9 crore in the corresponding period last year to Rs.30.31 crore.

The surge in revenue from ITC’s non cigarette consumer goods business shows the sector remains unaffected by the slowdown in the economy, said V. Srinivasan, an analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. “Looking at ITC’s results, we are hopeful that other FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies are also going to report healthy numbers for the quarter,” he said. The paper and paperboards segment was impacted by a “steep hike” in input prices, particularly that of wood, according to ITC. Net revenue from the segment grew 5.32% to Rs.1,059 crore from the year earlier, while pre tax profit at Rs.282.53 crore was 2.47% lower than last year.