Japan Tobacco Inc cut its annual profit outlook on Thursday, citing weaker-than-expected sales of its reduced-risk cigarettes amid strong competition from rival Philip Morris International Inc.
The company said it now expects a full-year operating profit of 505 billion yen (€4.17 billion) compared with a previous forecast of 518 billion yen. For the third quarter, operating profit fell 26% year-on-year to 129 billion yen.
Japan is the world's biggest market for "heat not burn" products, which emit less smoke than conventional cigarettes, as regular e-cigarettes with liquid nicotine are banned.
But the company said fewer-than-expected people were trying out and switching to its "heat not burn" Ploom S cigarettes, which compete with Philip Morris' more popular IQOS products.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
