Key brand cigarette volume at Imperial Tobacco rose 4.3 per cent in the 12 months to 30 Sept, helped by acquisition of Winston and Kool in the US, the company said.

Overall volume fell 3 per cent to 276.5 billion sticks, of which 151.3 billion represent key brands, said parent company Imperial Brands. US key brand volume amounted to 12 billion sticks in fiscal year 2016. Sales rose nearly 10 per cent at constant currency and adjusted tobacco operating profit increased 10.4 per cent to GBP 3.4 billion (EUR 3.8 billion).
Imperial Brands announced another round of cost cutting intended to deliver GBP 300 million in annual savings by 2020. GBP 750 million would be spent to achieve those savings.