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Americas
In the USA, cigarette market volumes declined 4 per cent, in line with the long term trend
and our share was 3.9 per cent. Our brands performed robustly in a very competitive
environment, with Fortuna growing share and we increased prices of most of our brands in
December.
We grew cigar sales strongly in the quarter in both value and volume terms and significantly
improved our mix. In natural wrapper cigars, our largest category, both Backwoods and
Dutch Masters performed well.
Rest of the World
In our Rest of the World region, our stick equivalent volumes were up 4 per cent in the
quarter, with cigarette volume growth in Africa & Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
We grew volumes of Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes and West in a number of markets,
achieving particular success in emerging growth segments such as super slims and king
size super slims.
We improved our quarterly cigarette volumes in a number of markets in Africa & Middle East,
with strong growth from Davidoff and Gauloises Blondes. In Morocco our key local brand
Marquise continues to perform well and improved its share to almost 62 per cent.
In Asia Pacific, we grew our quarterly cigarette volumes with good performances in Vietnam
and Laos, as well as in South Korea following the launch of Davidoff in May. We grew or
maintained cigarette share in all our key markets and made further gains in Australia, driven
by growth in Superkings and JPS.
In our first quarter, cigarette market volume declines in Russia and Ukraine moderated. In
Russia, Davidoff and West super slims and king size super slims variants continue to
improve share supported by growth in Style. In Ukraine, we increased our share to over 22
per cent driven by Davidoff, Style and Prima.
Our luxury Cuban cigar business had an excellent first quarter, with revenue and volume
growth in a number of markets including Russia, Brazil, the Middle East and Asia, with
particular success in China.
Logistics
In Logistics, ongoing cost management, business integration and development of new
services resulted in an increase in profits, despite declining tobacco volumes in Spain.