Greedy Trial Lawyer
The Marlboro Man Is No Johnny Appleseed
Category: The Latest Baddest
The Marlboro Man is riding the range in Western Europe, Asia and the Mideast, driving cigarette sales to new highs (instead of a herd of cattle).
Altria stock sets new high; outlook raised
Shares of Altria hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after the world's biggest cigarette maker reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings and predicted profit would continue to rise as international sales expand.Altria Group Inc., which is also a majority owner of Kraft Foods, said its net profit grew 1.6 percent on strong growth in international tobacco and food sales. The maker of Marlboro and Parliament cigarettes also raised its full-year guidance.
Chief Financial Officer Dinyar Devitre projected further growth for Philip Morris International Inc., which saw improvement in markets in Western Europe, Asia and the Mideast.
The company has been experiencing declining cigarette consumption in the U.S., as health concerns and a growing number of smoking bans drive down demand by nearly 2 percent a year. Shipment volume in the quarter for Philip Morris USA, which controls about half the U.S. market, was down 4.3 percent to 47.2 billion units in the quarter, the company said, although excluding trade distortions, that decline was about 2 percent.
This "good news" comes shortly after the Florida State Supreme Court found that:
1. Smoking cigarettes causes aortic aneurysm, bladder cancer, cerebrovascular disease, cervical cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, laryngeal cancer, lung cancer (specifically, adenocarinoma, large cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma), complications of pregnancy, oral cavity/tongue cancer, pancreatic cancer, peripheral vascular disease, pharyngeal cancer, and stomach cancer)
2. Nicotine in cigarettes is addictive.
3. The defendants placed cigarettes on the market that were defective and unreasonably dangerous.
4. The defendants concealed or omitted material information not otherwise known or available knowing that the material was false or misleading or failed to disclose a material fact concerning the health effects or addictive nature of smoking cigarettes or both.
5. All of the defendants agreed to misrepresent information relating to the health effects of cigarettes or the addictive nature of cigarettes with the intention that smokers and the public would rely on this information to their detriment.
6. The defendants agreed to conceal or omit information regarding the health effects of cigarettes or their addictive nature with the intention that smokers and the public would rely on this information to their detriment.
I knew Johnny Appleseed and the Marlboro Man is no Johnny Appleseed.
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