Imperial Tobacco Says Performance Meets Forecasts

Source from:  By Thomas Mulier and Louisa Nesbitt Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) 09/20/2007

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Europe's second-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, said its financial performance has matched forecasts in the current fiscal year. Imperial cited "particularly strong performances" by its Davidoff, West and John Player Special brands in a statement released today. The Bristol, England-based company, whose fiscal year ends Sept. 30, didn't give its forecasts. Tobacco companies have expanded in countries such as Russia, Taiwan and Poland as western European consumption drops because of higher taxes, prohibitions on advertising and smoking bans. Imperial aims to complete its purchase of Altadis SA by November, gaining access to markets such as Morocco and the Middle East. England banned smoking in public places in July, following similar measures in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The bans led to an "initial decline" in cigarette-market volumes, as expected, Imperial said in the statement. "We expect this impact to diminish over time, reflecting the trends we have seen in other markets with similar legislation," the company said. Imperial increased its percentage of overall cigarette sales in the U.K. and Germany, it said, without giving details. The shares fell 2 pence, or 0.1 percent, to 2,208 pence at 9:38 a.m. in London. The stock has climbed 10 percent this year, raising its market value to 15 billion pounds ($30 billion). Net income in the six months ended March 31 climbed 6 percent to 421 million pounds. The company gets more than half its profit from the U.K. and Germany, where volumes are dropping. Imperial bought Commonwealth Brands, the fourth-largest U.S. cigarette maker, for $1.9 billion in April. The company is scheduled to report results for the financial year on Oct. 30. To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas Mulier in Geneva at tmulier@bloomberg.net ; Louisa Nesbitt in Dublin at lnesbitt@bloomberg.net Enditem