IMPERIAL TOBACCO
Tobacco net revenue £6.25bn
Results from the two big tobacco companies are always a little different because they tend to use metrics such as billions of stick equivalents — the number of fags bought — not much seen elsewhere. The main interest is the extent to which they have managed to keep pace with what for years has been a declining market.
Imperial Tobacco experienced a fall in total tobacco volume of 3.1 per cent in the year to September 30, but there were a number of moving parts. Sales in Iraq and Syria were disrupted, contributing a 4 per cent fall.
There was a first-time gain from the purchase in June of brands in the United States shaken free from the merger