Shares do Well in Wake of No-Change Budget

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 03/25/2011

Shares in India's major cigarette manufacturers have been outperforming the market since the Indian Finance Minister proposed that tobacco excise duties be left unchanged in the 2011-12 budget, the BBM Bommidala Group reports in its latest newsletter. ITC had gained nine per cent since the budget was brought down on February 28, while Godfrey Phillips had risen by eight per cent and VST Industries had increased by four per cent. The budget's tobacco provisions were said to have been aimed at protecting the legal cigarette industry in the wake of a booming illicit segment that had resulted in a huge level of tax evasion. Enditem