NEW YORK —Sales growth across the nicotine industry decelerated in the recent two-week NielsenIQ period, a note from Goldman Sachs Managing Director Bonnie Herzog said.
All-channel dollar sales for total nicotine during the two-week period ending on Oct. 22 were down 3.5% compared to the same two-week period the previous year.
This comes as pressure on nicotine volumes increased with volumes down 8.4% year-over-year, led by the cigarette segment, which was down 9.7%, the New York-based investment management firm said.
On a three-year stack basis, or the sum of the last few years of growth rates, total nicotine dollar sales growth moderately accelerated, up 2.6% for the two-week period.
“In terms of specific company trends, total nicotine volume trends modestly decelerated sequentially for all companies, including for [Altria Group], [British American Tobacco] and [Imperial Brands PLC],” Herzog said. “[Swedish Match AB] volume growth also decelerated (but remained in the high teens range) and Juul’s volume growth remained sharply pressured, down 28.1%.”
The three-year stack basis, though, which helps smooth out volatility, shows total nicotine volumes were pressured but sequentially improved for Altria, BAT and Imperial Brands, while pressure on Juul volumes increased and volume growth for Swedish Match was lighter sequentially, Herzog said.
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