Philip Morris's Marlboro was the top-selling brand of cigarettes in Spain last year, ousting Spanish-French tobacco company Altadis from top spot, official figures showed on Thursday.

Altadis's market share suffered in the year from the rise of cheap imports.
According to figures from the Tobacco Commission, Fortuna, which is the biggest selling Altadis brand, had a market share of 14.6 per cent last year, down from 17.5 in 2004. Marlboro saw its market share dip to 16.8 per cent from 17.0 per cent the previous year, making it the brand with the biggest share. Both companies have cut the price of their most popular brands sharply in recent days in an attempt to defend market share against cheaper alternatives and after the government raised tax on cigarettes. (pi)