Imperial Tobacco's Earnings Light up Before Altadis Takeover

Source from:  Tue Oct 30, news.yahoo.com LONDON (AFP) 10/31/2007

Imperial Tobacco said Tuesday that it enjoyed record high earnings in 2006-2007, adding that it hoped to complete its takeover of Franco-Spanish rival Altadis by January. Imperial, the maker of Regal, Embassy and Davidoff cigarettes, said in a statement its net profit had risen by 6.3 percent to 905 million pounds during the 12 months to September 30. "This has been another excellent year for Imperial Tobacco in which we have delivered record financial results, with further growth within our cigarette volumes and market share gains within all our regions," Imperial's chief executive Gareth Davis said in the statement. Imperial's revenue climbed 5.7 percent to 12.344 billion pounds over its financial year. Pre-tax profit jumped by 5.9 percent to 1.237 billion pounds, in-line with analysts' consensus forecast. The group is meanwhile awaiting completion of its 16.2 billion-euro takeover of Altadis, the maker of Gauloise and Fortuna cigarettes. "In July, we announced a proposed cash offer for Altadis of 50 euros per share, and are delighted that our shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed acquisition," Imperial said on Tuesday. "We expect the transaction to complete in January 2008," it added. Last week the European Commission gave the green light to the purchase on condition that the company gives up some of its rolling and pipe tobacco and cigar brands, which it had agreed to. In buying Altadis, Imperial Tobacco will become the fourth biggest tobacco company in the world, after Altria (Philip Morris), BAT and Japan Tobacco. Earlier in 2007, Imperial Tobacco bought US group Commonwealth Brands, the fourth-biggest player in the United States, for 1.9 billion dollars. Enditem