Philip Morris takes a drag on Venture, but it's not up in smoke

Singapore

PHILIP Morris coughed, and Venture Corp felt the convulsions.

Shares of the global electronics services provider crashed 12.25 per cent on Friday after the American tobacco giant said on Thursday night that sales of its "heat not burn" smokeless tobacco products were not growing as fast as expected.

Venture is widely believed to make the IQOS (I Quit Ordinary Smoking) for Philip Morris, a pen-shaped battery-powered tobacco device designed to release a nicotine-containing vapour.

Philip Morris shares plunged 16 per cent on Thursday, its worst day on record, after it said IQOS sales in Japan, a key market, had hit a speed bump with more conservative adult smokers requiring more time for…