Imperial Tobacco Says U.K., German Markets Shrank

Source from:  By Thomas Mulier Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) 01/31/2008

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Europe's second-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, said the U.K. and German tobacco markets shrank last year after England banned indoor smoking in public places and taxes rose in Germany. Britain's market contracted 4 percent by volume in the 12 months through December, the Bristol, England-based company said today. Imperial said business so far this fiscal year ``remains in line with our expectations,'' while earnings, shipments and market share rose in ``many'' markets in its first quarter. Imperial accounts for almost half of the British market and about a fifth of that in Germany, where the tobacco market declined 6 percent. The company this month finished buying Altadis SA, the Spanish maker of Gauloises cigarettes, for 12.6 billion euros ($19 billion) to reduce its reliance on those shrinking markets. ``This market fall is not out of kilter given it's the first six months after a smoking ban,'' Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Charles Manso said of the U.K. mark