BAT Cigarette Volume Drops on Lower Demand in Brazil, Romania

Source from:  Bloomberg 04/29/2010

British American Tobacco Plc, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, said first-quarter sales volume dropped, hurt by weak demand in Brazil and Romania. Selling quantities declined 4 percent excluding acquisitions, or 1 percent including the purchase of Indonesia's Bentoel, the London-based company said today in a statement. Volume of BAT's so-called global drive brands, which also include Dunhill, Pall Mall and Kent, increased 6 percent. BAT and rivals including Imperial Tobacco Group Plc have raised prices to boost sales and profit, countering decreasing smoking rates in Europe and the U.S. BAT said today its premium- price cigarettes gained market share "in a number of key markets," while smokers in central and eastern Europe reached for cheaper products or sought out illicit tobacco. "Market share in our top 40 markets was in line with the start of 2009 and ahead of our fourth-quarter share," BAT said in the statement. "This good performance was achieved against lower industry volumes in a number of important markets, such as Japan, Brazil, Russia, Romania and Turkey." BAT shares have risen 6.1 percent this year to 2,140 pence. Imperial Tobacco has fallen 0.4 percent in that period. Imperial Tobacco yesterday posted a first-half profit of 689 million pounds ($1.05 billion), beating analysts' estimates, as the maker of Davidoff cigarettes raised prices. Enditem