BAT Zimbabwe Volumes Down 29 Percent

Source from:  tobaccoreporter.com Wednesday, September 6, 2006 09/08/2006

Volume cigarette sales by British American Tobacco Zimbabwe (BATZ) during the first half of this year dropped by 29 per cent from those of the first six months of 2005, according to a report in The Herald that did not give the volume figures. The steep drop was put down to Zimbabwe's harsh economic environment currently characterized by foreign currency scarcity and interest rate instability. Despite the depressed volumes, the country's high rate of inflation helped the company's turnover increase by 970 per cent from $154,070 million to $1,649 billion, and its operating profit soar by 1,584 per cent from $68,215 million to $1,149 billion. BATZ expects the operating environment in Zimbabwe to remain challenging and the pressure on sales volumes to continue. Enditem