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ASH Daily News for 05 December 2007

Greene King announce record profits

Pub chain, Greene King have announced record profits despite the smoking ban.

The company reported a record set of figures for the 24 weeks to 14 October, underpinned by organic growth. Pre-tax profit rose to £71.6m before exceptional credits of £9.8m, compared with £67.1m last year when profits were depressed by £9.6m.

Revenue rose to £445m from £419.2m, with all businesses experiencing growth, despite more challenging conditions over the past 12 months which include increased price competition from the off-trade and the introduction of the smoking ban in England. Since the latter came into force on 1 July there has been an increase in the sale of food.

The company noted that operating profit at Belhaven is up 16%, one year on since the introduction of the smoking ban in Scotland.

The group’s operating margin has been improved from 24% to 25.1%

An interim dividend of 7.3p has been declared, up 13% on last year.

Chief executive, Rooney Anand said, "We have confidence in the resilience of our business model, the quality of our assets, our robust balance sheet and our long-proven strategy. These, coupled with our strong cash generation and profit conversion, will enable us to create shareholder value in the current year and into the future."

Source: Sharecast, 04 December 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2pjscv

Shisha lounge facing charges

A Bradford city centre restaurant is facing trial over allegations that it broke smoking legislation by allowing customers to smoke shisha pipes on the premises.

It is the first such prosecution by Bradford Council under the new laws which came into effect this summer.  

The Centenary Square venue opened in October 2005 providing a shisha lounge for the smoking of fruit flavoured tobacco in hookah-style pipes, but all such smoking venues were included in the legislation banning smoking in public places.

Before the ban was  introduced in July, Markaz said they would switch to tobacco free herb products instead. However the law prevents any substances being smoked in enclosed public spaces.

There are three charges against the company, two relate to failing to stop customers smoking on two separate occasions, and one is over a failure to display No Smoking signs.

This follows two £200 fixed penalty notices which have been issued in the past and paid over the lack of signage.

Markaz could face a maximum fine of £2,500 for each of the offences related to allowing customers to smoke.

A trial has now been fixed for February at Bingley magistrates after two appearances at Bradford Magistrates' Court.

Markaz's website is still advertising its shisha lounge as selling tobacco and tobacco-free products with flavours ranging from double apple, lime lemon, mint and silver fox apple.

Co owner Shabbir Merali, who will represent Markaz at the trial, said they would be arguing reasonable excuse and hoping for a situation similar to the u-turn in New York where shisha businesses are exempt.

He said: "This is our public defiance. There are likely to be a number of cases in Manchester next year and these could all form a test case."

Source: Telegraph and Argus, 05 December 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3x4ema

Chronic disease plan 'can save 32m'

Researchers say that simple measures to reduce salt intake, smoking and damage to arteries could save 32 million lives a year by 2015 in those countries most afflicted by chronic disease.

The annual cost of the strategy would be equivalent to just 50p per head in the countries investigated.

Experts conducted a series of studies looking at achievable ways to reduce the chronic disease burden in 23 low to middle-income countries around the world. They included Mexico, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Poland, Thailand and China.

The countries were chosen because between them they account for more than 80% of worldwide deaths due to heart disease, cancer, chronic lung conditions and diabetes.

The measures could be achieved through voluntary reductions in the salt content of processed foods and  anti-tobacco measures such as workplace smoking bans, higher tobacco taxes, and health warnings on cigarette packets.

The experts, who reported their findings in a special series of papers to be published in The Lancet medical journal, said the lives could be saved with sufficient commitment.

Professor Robert Beaglehole, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, a member of the international team, said: "Nothing like this has ever been presented for chronic diseases before.

"We can avert 32 million deaths by 2015, and approximately half of these averted deaths would be among relatively young people under 70 years of age."

Source: Channel 4 News, 05 December 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3yzsbo

USA: States sue R.J. Reynolds over Camel adverts

Prosecutors in nine states from the United States, said that Camel adverts using illustrations promoting rock music in the Rolling Stone magazine, violate the tobacco industry's nine-year-old promise not to use cartoons to sell cigarettes.

Attorneys general in at least nine states planned to file lawsuits against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co about advertising for Camel cigarettes in the November edition of Rolling Stone, officials said.

The section combines pages of Camel cigarette adverts with pages of magazine produced illustrations on the theme of independent rock music.

'Their latest nine page advertising spread in Rolling Stone, filled with cartoons, flies in the face of their pledge to halt all tobacco marketing to children,' Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said in a news release.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown called the publication a 'rather clever piece of advertising.'

Brown said, "We have to call them to task, they agreed not to do these kinds of things ever since Joe Camel."

The landmark 1998 settlement between 46 states and the tobacco industry reimburses states for smoking related health care costs. In an effort to prevent the industry from pitching to minors, the agreement includes a provision against using cartoons in advertisements.

The cigarette adverts in Rolling Stone tout its 'The Farm: Free Range Music' campaign and support for independent record labels while using photographic images of people in 1950s dress, farm animals, an old-fashioned tractor and furnishings like a phonograph against a farm backdrop. Those pages fold out to reveal a four-page illustrated spread of an 'Indie Rock Universe' with animals, imaginary figures and other drawings.

The lawsuits also seek removal of the advert campaign images from all Web sites and promotions, including the packaging of a related music CD that was mailed out in some states, and money from R.J. Reynolds for anti-smoking adverts.

Source: Yahoo Financial News, 05 December 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2q463c