Sales up, profit down at Swedish Match

Swedish Match’s sales for the year to the end of December, at SEK12,610 million, were up by 1 percent on those of 2012.

And sales during the fourth quarter of 2013, at SEK3,178 million, were up by 1 percent on those of the fourth quarter of 2012.

Calculated in local currencies, sales for the full year and fourth quarter each increased by 3 percent.

Operating profit from product areas (excluding net profit from SM’s share in the Scandinavian Tobacco Group [STG] and larger one-off items) for the full year was down by 8 percent to SEK3,375 million, while fourth-quarter operating profit from product areas fell by 5 percent to SEK835 million.

In local currencies, operating profit from product areas for the full year dropped by 6 percent and fell by 5 percent during the fourth quarter.

Operating profit (including net profit from SM’s share in STG and larger one-off items) was down by 5 percent to SEK3,855 million for the full year 2013, and down by 5 percent to SEK932 in the fourth quarter.

Basic earnings per share fell during the full year by 5 percent to SEK13.63 and for the fourth quarter by 13 percent to SEK3.43.