ASH Daily News for 27/10/1999
HEADLINES
ASH, 102 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4HW Tel: 0171 739 5902
Fax: 0171 613 0531
ASH Daily News
Wednesday 27 October 1999
Headlines
BAT suffers from litigation fatigue
Website offering cheap cigarettes halts trading
Survey suggests more smokers will attempt to quit to mark Millennium
F1 investigating Middle East for venue of future Grand Prix
Talks begin on Tobacco Treaty
Full Text
BAT suffers from litigation fatigue
“Shares of British American Tobacco are in intensive care”, reports
the Times, “suffering from one of the most feared stock market
diseases – uncertainty.” The cause of the uncertainty is the outcome
of tobacco litigation in the US, and, in particular, last month’s
court ruling in Florida which obliges BAT to face the next phase of a
major class action against it. This is being blamed for the 28 per
cent drop in share price in the past four weeks.
Yesterday, BAT announced trading figures for the nine months to 30
September which showed operating profits down 6 per cent before
allowing for the merger with Rothmans. The company reported pretax
profit of £1.22 billion on sales of £7.93bn. Chairman Martin
Broughton said that the combination of the Florida appeal court ruling
and the Justice Department case had destroyed £5.5 bn of BAT
shareholder value. Nonetheless, he said that BAT's American
subsidiary Brown and Williamson would continue to fight the litigation
and would not settle.
Source: The Times, Wall St Journal, FT, and several other papers,
27/10/99
Website offering cheap cigarettes halts trading
A website selling cheap cigarettes to Britain has suspended trading
and parted company with its promoter while it establishes if the
business is legal. Cigiworld.com has posted a note on its website
saying: “We are no longer processing order from the UK until we
receive clarification from the European Parliament concerning duty
payment in the UK.”
Source: Daily Telegraph, 27/10/99
Survey suggests more smokers will attempt to quit to mark Millennium
A report by SmithKline Beecham forecasts that the Millennium will
encourage greater numbers of smokers than usual to attempt to give up
over the New Year holiday period. However, about half of those who
succeed in stopping for one week will smoke again within a month, says
the report. The company recommends stocking up with nicotine patches
to improve chances of success.
Source: The Express, 27/10/99
F1 investigating Middle East for venue of future Grand Prix
Formula One’s ruling body, the FIA, has moved the date of the British
Grand Prix from July to April next year. The move is seen by some in
motor racing as a ‘downgrading’ of the British event. Meanwhile the
FIA has opened negotiations to stage Grand Prix in the Middle East,
with races in Egypt and Dubai under discussion. Such venues do not
currently have any restrictions on tobacco advertising.
Source: The Times, 27/10/99
Talks begin on Tobacco Treaty
The World Health Organisation has launched negotiations on the
framework treaty to curb world-wide tobacco use. Among the issues for
discussion are a global ban on tobacco advertising, increased tobacco
taxes, labelling and packaging requirements, measures to stop
smuggling and a ban on smoking in public places.
Source: Financial times, 27/10/99
Karl Brookes
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