yacht . swedish match ab type publicly traded aktiebolag traded as nasdaq stockholm swma industry personal & household goods 1 predecessor svenska t ndsticks ab j nk pings t ndsticksfabrik 2 svenska tobaksmonopolet 2 founded 1915 ; 101 years ago 1915 2 headquarters stockholm sweden key people conny karlsson board chairman lars dahlgren president and ceo 3 products cigars lighters matches moist snuff snus 3 revenue sek 14.486 billion 2015 3 operating income sek 4.008 billion 2015 3 net income sek 2.803 billion 2015 3 total assets sek 14.824 billion 2015 3 total equity sek 252 million 2015 3 number of employees 4 488 average 2015 3 website www.swedishmatch.com swedish match is a swedish company based in stockholm that makes snus moist snuff and chewing tobacco with its red man brand . these products are known as moist smokeless tobacco . the company also makes machine made cigars matches lighters as well as razors batteries light bulbs and tooth picks . swedish match operates in nine countries with 4 488 employees 2015 . the products are sold in more than 100 countries worldwide . 3 4 the swedish match share has been listed on nasdaq stockholm large cap segment since 1996 with the ticker symbol swma . it is a constituent of the omx stockholm 30 and omx ges sustainability sweden indices . 5 in 2015 approximately 60 percent of the trades by number of shares were done at nasdaq stockholm 25 percent at chi x 11 percent at turquoise and 3 percent at bats . the group had total sales of 14 486 msek and an operating profit from product areas of 3 690 msek . snus and moist snuff accounted for 35 percent of sales and 54 percent of swedish match s operating profit . 3 exterior of swedish match headquarters at sveav gen stockholm as of 2015 exterior of previous swedish match headquarters in stockholm courtyard of previous swedish match headquarters in stockholm contents 1 history 2 operations 2.1 operating locations and factories 2.2 workplace and safety 2.3 environment 3 market 3.1 snus and moist snuff 3.2 cigars and chewing tobacco 3.3 matches and lighters 3.4 main brands 3.5 market position and competition 3.5.1 snus in sweden 3.5.2 snus and moist snuff in the us 3.5.3 cigars 3.5.4 chewing tobacco 3.6 swedish match in the us 4 international expansion 5 key people 6 ownership 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit the operations of swedish match originate from two companies svenska tobaksmonopolet a tobacco monopoly owned by the swedish state and founded in 1915 and svenska t ndsticks aktiebolaget stab a match manufacturing company founded in 1917 by ivar kreuger also known as the match king in connection with the acquisition of j nk pings t ndsticksfabrik . 2 6 in 1992 the tobacco and lights operations were joined in the procordia group . two years later they were merged into an independent company named swedish match which became publicly listed in 1996 . 2 svenska t ndsticks ab stab in 1917 ivar kreuger founded svenska t ndsticks aktiebolaget stab in j nk ping also known as city of the matches . 2 6 it was a merger between aktiebolaget f renade t ndsticksfabriker and j nk pings & vulcans t ndsticksfabriksaktiebolag . 2 a year later stab was listed on the stockholm stock exchange . 2 7 by expanding through acquisition of government created monopolies by lending money to the governments and through mergers with for instance the british match company bryant and may in 1927 it became the world s largest match manufacturer . 6 8 in 1930 the company controlled 60 percent of the world s match production and was the sole owner of match companies in 33 countries . 2 following the death of ivar kreuger in 1932 the ownership structure in stab changed and a number of factories were liquidated . during 1938 stab s share of the world s matchmaking fell to 20 percent . 2 when the match market declined sharply in the 1950s stab looked for new business ventures and acquired more than 50 companies between 1968 and 1976 . 2 in 1980 svenska t ndsticks ab changed its name to swedish match to create unity throughout the group . 2 in 1988 the company was acquired by stora ab and was sold two years later to nederlight . 9 10 11 after another two years procordia acquired swedish match . 2 ab svenska tobaksmonopolet in 1915 the swedish government founded ab svenska tobaksmonopolet and nationalized all swedish tobacco production plants . the monopoly was introduced in order to give the government funds to finance the country s military defense and a new national pension system . 2 during the 1960s the monopoly on production import and sale of tobacco was abolished in sweden . svenska tobaksmonopolet was converted to a new state owned company named svenska tobaks ab . 2 in 1971 the ownership of the tobacco group was transferred to statsf retag ab a state owned conglomerate which in 1984 was renamed procordia . 2 as a result of the monopoly being abolished and in order to broaden the market the dutch cigar company elisabeth bas la paz ebas the american tobacco manufacturer pinkerton tobacco company maker of red man a chewing tobacco brand introduced in the us in 1904 and the dutch cigar producer willem ii were acquired between 1968 and 1989 . 2 12 in 1989 procodia was listed on the stockholm stock exchange . volvo acquired part of procordia in 1990 and became the principal owner together with the swedish government . 2 to complement the tobacco business procordia in 1992 acquired the match and lighter company swedish match from nederlight . 2 swedish match ab in 1992 the listed company procordia acquired the match and lighter business named swedish match . the operations of swedish match were integrated with procordia united brands one of procordia s business operations and was renamed swedish match to take advantage of international name recognition . in 1994 swedish match functioned as an independent company and was later in 1996 listed on the omx nordic exchange stockholm ab and on nasdaq . 2 13 in 1999 the company sold its cigarette manufacturing to austria tabak but is still active as a distributor of cigarettes on the swedish market . 2 in the same year swedish match expanded its cooperation with pt . java match factory jamafac the biggest safety matches manufacturer in indonesia to a joint venture agreement in order to strengthen its position within lights and matches in southeast asia . jamafac was divested in 2005 and now has a license agreement with swedish match to produce matches and distribute cricket lighters in indonesia . 14 15 16 in 2009 swedish match entered an agreement with philip morris international and formed the joint venture company swpm international for exploring and developing new markets for snus and other smokefree tobacco products outside scandinavia and the united states . 17 the companies have an ownership of 50 percent each in swmp international . 18 in 2010 swedish match and scandinavian tobacco group stg formed a new company specialized in cigars . swedish match brought its entire cigar business with the exception of u.s. mass market cigars and pipe tobacco into the new company while stg transferred all of its tobacco business . the new company took over the name scandinavian tobacco group . swedish match became a partner with 49 percent of the company and the remaining shares are owned by skandinavisk holding a s. 2 19 20 21 22 snus a tobacco product marketed by swedish match operations edit snus moist snuff cigars chewing tobacco matches and lighters are swedish match s main products . they are developed manufactured distributed marketed and sold through the company s five operating units . 13 23 24 the company also sells razors batteries light bulbs and tooth picks on the brazilian market . 25 26 scandinavia division us division lights latin america lights international smd logistics ab scandinavia division the scandinavia division is responsible for the supply chain management for the group s smokeless tobacco products snus moist snuff and chewing tobacco . it is also in charge of production product development marketing and sales of snus in sweden and norway . in addition to this the division is responsible for the group s product development . the head office is located in sweden . us division the us division manages sales and marketing for snus moist snuff and chewing tobacco in the us . it also handles marketing and supply chain management for mass market cigars on the us market . the head office is located in owensboro kentucky . lights latin america the division lights latin america manufactures and markets matches and lighters in latin america . it also sells razors batteries light bulbs and tooth picks . the head office is based in brazil . lights international produces lights and matches in the netherlands the philippines and sweden . the division also manufactures and markets these products outside latin america . the head office is located in sweden . smd logistics ab the smd logistics ab division distributes mainly tobacco products to the swedish market approximately 10 000 stores as well as over the counter drugs . the head office is located in sweden . partnerships swedish match has two partnerships smpm international and scandinavian tobacco group . smpm international is a joint venture company equally owned by swedish match and philip morris . the company markets and sells snus outside scandinavia and the us . scandinavian tobacco group of which swedish match owns 49 percent is specialized in cigars pipe tobacco and fine cut tobacco . operating locations and factories edit swedish match operates in nine countries and has production units in six of these brazil the dominican republic the netherlands the philippines sweden and the us . 23 the company has 12 factories of which ten in 2013 had iso 9001 and iso 14001 certifications . 27 28 29 the table below presents an overview of swedish match s operations as of 2014 25 country activity factory number of employees sweden head office production units and sales offices snus matches 1 038 us production units and sales offices moist snuff chewing tobacco 1 147 dominican republic production unit cigars 1 101 brazil production units and sales offices lights 672 the philippines production units and sales offices lights 268 netherlands production unit lights 101 norway sales offices no 48 turkey sales offices no 15 belgium treasury and public affairs offices no 3 production of matches and lighters the matches produced by swedish match are safety matches and are manufactured in sweden and brazil . 30 the entity that produces matches in sweden swedish match industries ab is since 2009 certified according to the forest stewardship council chain of custody standard and the standard for controlled wood . 30 the matches are manufactured according to the european match standards en 1783 1997 . 30 31 40 percent of the production is sold in europe and 60 percent to africa central america the caribbean oceania and the middle east . 32 the swedish manufacturing facilities are located in tidaholm and vetlanda . 30 33 34 in brazil 95 % of the wood consumption for safety matches and matchboxes is from swedish match s own plantations which are part of brazilian reforestation projects . the match manufacturing facilities in brazil curitiba and pira do sul are not certified by iso . 25 35 swedish match produces lighters in the philippines the netherlands and brazil . 25 the company s main lighter brand cricket is manufactured according to iso 9994 2006 and en 13869 child resistance which are mandatory in the european economic community . 30 workplace and safety edit in 2014 swedish match employed 4 395 people of whom 37 percent were women . 27 in 2014