Spanish-French tobacco company Altadis announced that net profit fell 19.9 per cent to Euro 339.1 million in the nine months to September 2006, which is at the low end of forecasts.

Revenues fell 3.3 per cent to Euro 2.940 billion from Euro 3.040 billion a year earlier, mostly due to tax hikes on cigarettes in the domestic market.
Nine-month cigarette sales in Spain fell 39 per cent Euro 188 million from Euro 312 million, and in Germany sales dropped to Euro 138 million from Euro 146 million because of rising tobacco taxation.
The declines were partly offset by strong sales at Altadis’ cigar division, up Euro 13 million to Euro 660 million, which the company attributed to its Cuban cigars and ‘magnificent’ results in the US.
In Morocco, where Altadis has an 85.1 per cent market share in blonde tobacco cigarettes, sales grew 18 per cent to Euro 124 million. Cigarette sales in France – where a smoking ban is expected to pressure medium term revenues – increased 5 per cent to Euro 165 million from Euro 157 million.
Altadis added that it has reached a licensing agreement with one of the ‘principal operators’ in the Far East, a region the group says it has identified for future international expansion. (pi)