LONDON :Britain's Imperial Tobacco, the maker of Lambert & Butler and Gauloises cigarettes, said on Thursday that profits and revenues grew in the group's second quarter.

"Following a first quarter impacted by various external factors, we delivered strong revenue and profit growth in the second quarter, improving our revenue and profit momentum as we enter the second half," Imperial said in a trading update.

"First-half reported tobacco net revenues are expected to increase by around 3.0 percent and reported stick equivalent volumes are expected to decline by around 4.0 percent," it added.

Imperial will publish full results for the group's first half, or six months to the end of March, on May 1.

"Our performance reflects continued success across our key strategic brands Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, West and JPS and our luxury Cuban cigar portfolio, complemented by fine cut tobacco gains and further smokeless growth," it said.

Imperial added that its overall financial position and operational performance for the financial year to the end of September would be in line with expectations.

In recent years, the London-listed group has switched its strategy away from developed regions and towards the world's major growth markets in Asia, Africa, eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012

Comments

Comments are closed.