Japan Tobacco may Raise Cigarette Prices -- Media

Source from:  malaysia.news.yahoo.com TOKYO, May 9 05/09/2008

Japan Tobacco Inc , the world's No. 3 tobacco maker, may raise the price of domestic cigarettes to account for high raw materials costs and help offset sluggish demand, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday. Quoting President Hiroshi Kimura in an interview, the paper said Japan Tobacco's possible price increase would not be triggered by a higher tax. That would be the first time since 1993 that a price increase is not linked to taxes, it said. Officials at Japan Tobacco were not immediately available for comments. The company makes Mild Seven cigarettes and owns the Camel, Winston and Salem brands outside of the United States. Japan Tobacco last week booked a 9 percent gain in quarterly operating profit on expanding sales outside its shrinking home market, but forecast a 28 percent fall this year due to an accounting change, its first drop in eight years. Enditem