Imperial Tobacco stick-equivalent volume declined 2.7 per cent to 336.6 billion sticks in the fiscal year ended 30 Sept, influenced by weak markets in Ukraine and Poland and trade sanctions in Syria, the company said in a statement.

Within stick equivalents, volume for fine-cut tobaccos was stable. The stick-equivalent measure combines fine.cut and cigarette volumes.
Volume at Imperial’s snus business increased 53 per cent. Adjusted operating profit from its tobacco business rose 2 per cent to GPB 3 billion (EUR 3.7 billion) on sales that gained 1 per cent to GPB 7 billion. Unadjusted for currency, revenue increased 4 per cent.
Chief Executive Officer Alison Cooper said he was pleased with the performance of strategic brands Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, West and JPS, where volume expanded a collective 7 per cent and revenue by 13 per cent. The four brands now account for 30 per cent of stick-equivalent volume versus 26 per cent in fiscal 2010.
Imperial estimated its share of the its home UK cigarette market remained stable at 45 per cent. The German share was down 0.8 percentage point at 25.8 per cent. Imperial said a decline in cigarettes was offset by a 3 per cent rise in fine-cut volume.
Illicit trade in Spain, beset with high unemployment and consumer uncertainty about government austerity measures, has grown. The overall duty-paid market fell 10 per cent, with cigarettes down 13 per cent and fine-cut up 17 per cent, Imperial estimated. Spanish macro-economic indicators prompted Imperial to take a non-cash impairment charge of GBP 1.2 billion for the fiscal year, the company said. (ci)