CEFCO Adds Mistic Brand to Its Electronic Cigarette Offering

The convenience store retailer inked an agreement with the maker of Mistic ego electronic cigarette, Ballantyne Brands LLC, just in time for CEFCO's "Summer Savings" program.

"Mistic was a clear choice when making a supplier decision in this category," said Dennis Kelley, CEFCO's vice president of merchandising. "By moving forward with a multibrand strategy in this category, which Ballantyne Brands fully endorses, we are able to offer our consumers the best options in e-cigarettes, and Mistic fits right in and hits a sweet spot with our consumers."

The nation’s third-biggest tobacco company on Wednesday reported earnings of $328 million, or 86 cents per share, for the period ended March 31, up from $223 million, or 57 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, cheap E-liquid earnings were 66 cents per share, beating Wall Street expectations by two cents. That excludes a benefit of 23 cents per share in credits for disputed payments under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement in which some cigarette makers are paying states for smoking-related health care costs.

Revenue excluding excises taxes rose 6 percent to $1.12 billion, matching analyst expectations, according to FactSet.Most tobacco companies have been raising prices and cutting costs to keep profits up as the recession and declining demand cut into cigarette sales. Tax increases, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma also have made the cigarette business tougher.fdfRFE23s

The Greensboro, N.C., company said the number of cigarettes it sold fell about 2 percent to 9.22 billion cigarettes, compared with an estimated total industry decline of about 6 percent.Volumes of Newport, Lorillard’s biggest brand, fell nearly 2 percent, but its share of the menthol market grew to 37.6 percent.As part of the industrywide push to diversify beyond the traditional cigarette business, Lorillard acquired e-cigarette maker Blu Ecigs last April.

Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge, creating vapor that users inhale. Some electronic cigarette atomizer are made to look like a real cigarette with a tiny light on the tip that glows like the real thing. Devotees tout them as a way to break addiction to real cigarettes. They insist the devices address both the nicotine addiction and the behavioral aspects of smoking without the more than 4,000 chemicals found in cigarettes.