Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars - ROMEO, O ROMEO, HOW MANY CIGARS DID WE SELL?

ROMEO, O ROMEO, HOW MANY CIGARS DID WE SELL?

ROMEO, O ROMEO, HOW MANY CIGARS DID WE SELL?

Cigar giant Altadis releases sensational cigar sales report for first half of 2004

Los Angeles, September 1 – There are a lot of smiles in Madrid, Paris and . . . Ft. Lauderdale these days.

Madrid and Paris-based tobacco giant Altadis S.A., which markets dozens of brands of cigarettes and cigars, released an outstanding financial report for the period ended June 30, showing earnings before income taxes plus depreciation and amortization (known as “EBITDA” in the financial world) of 518 million Euros, about $622 million.

That’s a 30.5% profit margin, in line with last year, but still outstanding. And the cigar report was the most outstanding of all for the company which owns half of Habanos S.A. in Cuba, markets premium brands from its U.S. home office in Ft. Lauderdale including Don Diego, H. Upmann, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta and Trinidad, mass-market brands including Antonio y Cleopatra, Dutch Masters, Muriel, Phillies and Roi-Tan and has a controlling interest in J-R Cigars, the national sales leader for all types of cigars in the U.S.:

• The U.S. market, which accounts for 60% of Altadis cigar sales, was up by 8% to $256 million for the first six months of the year.

• Premium cigar sales in the U.S. were up a surprising 21%, including sales of 24 million Euro (about $28.8 million) from J-R.

• European cigar sales increased by 13%, with increased sales in France for the first time in a while. In Spain, Altadis saw big increases in its new brand “Dux,” now on the market for a little more than a year and strong growth for its other brands “Farias” and “Vegafina” (which has also been in the U.S., but not a strong seller).

• Cuban cigar sales made up just 2% of the unit total, but contributed more than 14% of Altadis’ cigar revenue! Those Havanas are getting pricey! Sales of Cuban-made cigars in the territories controlled by Altadis increased by more than 22 percent to approximately $67.2 million.

Altadis’ total cigar-related revenues for the first six months of the year totaled 396 million Euro or about $475.2 million and showed EBITDA of almost 24%. That’s not blowing smoke, folks.

More Euro-talk:
The always-interesting European Cigar-Cult Journal, published in German and English (and pictured above), offered a rating of 32 Lonsdale-sized cigars from Cuba and the Caribbean in their summer edition.

Their highest-rated cigars earned four-and-a-half stars (out of five):

• Bolivar Inmensas (Cuba)
• Cohiba Siglo V (Cuba)
• Davidoff Millennium Blend (Dominican Republic)
• Partagas Lonsdale (Cuba)

Among the other well-rated cigars available in the U.S. were the Maria Mancini Grandees (four stars), La Meridiana Cameroon Selection Lonsdale (four stars) and the Macanudo Baron de Rothschild and Vintage 1997 No. 2 (both three and a half stars).

In other tastings in this issue were high marks for the Joya de Nicarangua Antano 1970 line (two sizes earned 4½ stars), the La Flor Dominicana Chisel (4½ stars) and the Bossner line which debuted for U.S. distribution at the recent Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (RTDA) convention and trade show last month. Two sizes of this Nicaraguan-made, German-distributed line earned 4½ stars.

There were also the obligatory features on pipes, watches, where to smoke in Vienna and a nice feature on the former Mrs. Dennis Rodman, actress Carmen Electra. Not herself a smoker – despite holding a lit cigar on the cover – she notes that “I’m only addicted to Coca-Cola.”
~ Rich Perelman

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