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Understanding the vector in order to plan effective tobacco control policies: an analysis of contemporary tobacco industry materials  

Successes and new emerging challenges in tobacco control: addressing the vector  

Vector Group Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend  

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) today announced that it has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.40 per share. The dividend is payable on December 29, 2011 to holders of record as of December 15, 2011.

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Vector Group Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend 

Vector Group Ltd. /quotes/zigman/260675/quotes/nls/vgr VGR +0.57% today announced that it has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.40 per share. The dividend is payable on December 29, 2011 to holders of record as of December 15, 2011.

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• REY v. PHILIP MORRIS, LORILLARD, et. al.  

In this appeal, we are asked to review the trial court’s determination that summary judgment in favor of those three companies was also appropriate under Engle on the “civil conspiracy to fraudulently conceal” claim asserted by Mrs. Rey against all defendants. We reverse the final summary judgment in favor of the three tobacco companies as to that claim and only that claim (Count IV of the Amended Complaint), based on our reconciliation of the holdings by this Court and our Supreme Court in Engle. . . .

III. Conclusion

The law of civil conspiracy is striking in its extension of liability to a coconspirator which may not have caused any direct injury to the claimant. These principles have their origins in the policy that an entire group of conspirators acting collectively to achieve an unlawful goal—including consumer fraud— should be jointly and severally liable for the acts of all participants in the scheme.

Engle does not hold that traditional product liability theories are the only claims that may go forward against tobacco companies and their collectively- supported research or industry groups, or that all smoking-related claims may only proceed against those defendants which manufactured the specific brands consumed by a particular plaintiff. To the contrary, Engle has reaffirmed that existing civil conspiracy/fraudulent concealment claims are available to Engleprogeny claimants. For these reasons, we reverse the final summary judgment against Mrs. Rey as to Count IV (“civil conspiracy—fraud by concealment”) only, and we affirm as to all other claims against these three manufacturer appellees.

Reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

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Widow allowed to sue tobacco companies husband didn't use ($$) 

Civil conspiracy claims by a dead smoker's wife against the nation's biggest tobacco companies will stick, even if he never used their products, the 3rd District Court of Appeal said. The ruling allows Fernando Rey's wife and two children to return to trial court on a single conspiracy claim against Lorillard Tobacco and Liggett Group.

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• Fla. Court Revives Conspiracy Claims Against Tobacco Cos. ($$) 

A Florida appeals court on Wednesday reinstated conspiracy claims against cigarette makers Lorillard Tobacco Co., Liggett Group LLC and Vector Group Ltd., saying the Florida Supreme Court did not impose brand usage conditions on such claims as the defendants argued.

The companies had argued that because they did not manufacture the cigarettes smoked by the late Fernando Rey, they could not be held liable by his family for a conspiracy to withhold information about the addictiveness of cigarettes as well as associated health risks.

But the Florida Third District Court of Appeal said the state Supreme Court's ruling in Engle v. Liggett — a class action that the underlying case is derived from — imposed no such restriction on civil conspiracy and concealment claims.

“Were we to hold otherwise, arguably culpable nonmanufacturer defendants also could not be held liable for tobacco-related injuries — defendants such as the Council for Tobacco Research and the Tobacco Institute — for failure to satisfy the purported 'brand usage' requirement,” Judge Vance E. Salter wrote for a three-judge panel for the Third District. . . .

The findings in Engle establish there was an agreement among all the Engle defendants, including the three companies named in the current suit, to conceal or omit material information, according to Judge Salter.

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CORRECTING and REPLACING Vector Group Reports Second Quarter 2011 Financial Results  

VECTOR GROUP REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2011 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) today announced financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011.

Second quarter 2011 revenues were $291.2 million, compared to revenues of $268.5 million in the second quarter of 2010. The increase in revenues in 2011 was primarily due to increased unit sales of approximately 5.7% in the 2011 period compared to the 2010 period. The Company recorded operating income of $38.0 million in the 2011 second quarter, compared to operating income of $21.1 million in the second quarter of 2010. Net income for the 2011 second quarter was $30.3 million, or $0.36 per diluted common share, compared to $19.2 million, or $0.19 per diluted common share, in the 2010 second quarter.

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Vector Group to Host Second Quarter 2011 Conference Call  

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) will conduct a conference call and webcast to discuss its second quarter 2011 results on Friday, August 5, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. (ET).

Investors can access the call by dialing 800-859-8150 and entering 90121568 as the conference ID number. The call will also be available via live webcast at www.investorcalendar.com. Webcast participants should allot extra time before the webcast begins to register.

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Vector Group Reports First Quarter 2011 Financial Results 

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) today announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2011.

First quarter 2011 revenues were $260.4 million, compared to $222.1 million for 2010. The Company recorded operating income of $31.5 million for 2011, compared to operating income of $31.0 million for 2010. Net income for 2011 was $19.4 million, or $0.25 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $11.9 million, or $0.14 per diluted common share, for 2010.

For the three months ended March 31, 2011, the Company’s tobacco business had revenues of $260.4 million, compared to $222.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010. Operating income was $36.4 million for the first quarter 2011, compared to $34.9 million for the first quarter of 2010.

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Vector Group to Host First Quarter 2011 Conference Call 

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) will conduct a conference call and webcast to discuss its first quarter 2011 results on Friday, May 6, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. (ET).

Investors can access the call by dialing 800-859-8150 and entering 37413326 as the conference ID number. The call will also be available via live webcast at www.investorcalendar.com. Webcast participants should allot extra time before the webcast begins to register.

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CORRECTING and REPLACING Vector Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Financial Results  

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2010.

For the full year ended December 31, 2010, revenues were $1.063 billion, compared to $801.5 million for 2009. The increase in revenues in 2010 was primarily due to increased unit sales of approximately 24.9% in 2010 compared to 2009 and the increase in federal excise taxes on cigarettes, which became effective on April 1, 2009. The Company recorded operating income of $111.3 million for 2010, compared to operating income of $143.2 million for 2009. Net income for 2010 was $54.1 million, or $0.71 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $24.8 million, or $0.33 per diluted common share, for 2009. The results for 2010 included pre-tax charges of $16.2 million related to litigation judgment expense and another $3.0 million settlement charge and $11.5 million of pre-tax gains from changes in fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt. Adjusting for these items, the Company’s operating income for 2010 would have been $130.5 million and the Company’s net income for 2010 would have been $58.7 million, or $0.77 per diluted common share.

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Cigarette Stocks Get Crushed  

Also lagging the market Tuesday are cigarette and tobacco shares, down on the day by about 0.7% as a group, led down by Alliance One International , trading lower by about 3.7% and Vector Group Limited , trading lower by about 0.8%.

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Vector Group Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend  

Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) today announced that it has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.40 per share. Additionally, the Company declared its regular annual stock dividend of 5%. Both the quarterly cash and the annual stock dividends are payable on September 29, 2010 to holders of record as of September 16, 2010.

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Vector Group posts Q2 profit  

Vector Group Ltd. saw second quarter earnings increase to $268.5 million from $206.8 million a year earlier.

The Miami-based tobacco holding company (NYSE: VGR) said the increase was primarily due to a 30.8 percent jump in unit sales.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30 was $19.2 million, or 20 cents a share, improved from net loss of $7.9 million, or 11 cents a share, for the same year-ago quarter.

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