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The fleur-de-lis fight has ended. Altadis U.S.A. Inc. and Tatuaje Cigars jointly announced yesterday that they have reached a mutual agreement ending the trademark battle over Tatuaje's use of the fleur-de-lis on its cigar brands.
"It's over," said Pete Johnson, owner of the Tatuaje, La Riqueza, Ambos Mundos and other cigar brands. Johnson said this morning that he would be making "minor changes, nothing that is really noticeable" to his cigars. Tatuaje, a boutique brand rolled in Miami and Nicaragua by Jos� "Pepin" Garcia, was named the hottest cigar brand in America by Cigar Insider this summer.
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More than a year since its acquisition of Altadis, we take a look at how the deal has enhanced the company's presence in several key markets.
In January 2008, tobacco giant, Altadis, became part of even-larger tobacco giant Imperial. This was one of several big events for Imperial in their 2008 financial year. Overall cigarette volumes jumped up nearly 50% to 292 bn cigarettes (helped, not only by the Altadis acquisition, but by the Commonwealth Brands acquisition in 2007). Fine cut tobacco volumes went up 25,000 tons and cigar volumes increased dramatically, as well.
Integrating Altadis has been labeled a "key focus" by the company, and is a process that is continuing into 2009. The company has successfully completed all consultations, enabling the further implementation of the European integration projects it announced in June 2008. The company has completed the integration of its sales and marketing teams in Spain and France and remains on track to achieve its synergy targets.
The Tampa area will lose part of its cigar heritage in August when Hav-A-Tampa shuts its factory near Seffner and lays off about 495 employees, closing a factory that has been operating since 1902.
Company officials announced the closing Tuesday.
Many employees there make Hav-A-Tampa's iconic Jewels, inexpensive machine-made cigars known for their birchwood tips. Some workers have labored there for two decades or longer, including one who's been there for 50 years, said Richard McKenzie, a senior vice president of human resources for Altadis USA, which owns Hav-A-Tampa.
Altadis tried to keep the plant open by closing it for a week or two at a time and furloughing workers. Eventually, though, the company couldn't cope with a steep drop in consumer demand brought on by the recession and a large new tax on tobacco products, McKenzie said.
Work that had been done in Seffner will now be performed in an Altadis plant in Puerto Rico, where it has extra manufacturing capacity, McKenzie said.
Founded in 1927, the Altadis Tobacco Institute of Bergerac aims to improve the quality and characteristics of raw tobacco, from seed production through post-harvest treatment to the final product.
The institute has undertaken extensive research programmes in the areas of plant genetics and breeding, pest and disease resistance. It provides a pest diagnosis service to tobacco growers and promotes integrated pest management and good agricultural practices. The institute has contributed greatly to the science of the tobacco plant and holds an extensive collection of Nicotiana species.
Conducting our business responsibly is fundamental to our future success and the sustainability of our business - including managing social, environmental and economic risks and opportunities, and responding to external developments and stakeholder issues. In addition, our responsible approach enhances our credibility with stakeholders and supports our international development.
The Board of Imperial Tobacco Group PLC remains committed to high standards of corporate governance and business conduct and this will continue to be emphasised in the enlarged Group, following the acquisition of Altadis in January 2008. . . .
In preparation for the integration of Imperial Tobacco and Altadis, I have sponsored specific projects aimed at further strengthening our approach to corporate governance and the Board has agreed to the appointment of a specific Risk Co-ordination Committee under the chairmanship of the Company Secretary.
In the last few months of the financial year, we have completed a project to help improve the clarity of our corporate documents and how they are interconnected. These documents include our Business Principles, Code of Conduct and Group policies, which set out the corporate standards we strive to achieve regardless of the requirements of local regulations. An example of this is our International Marketing Standard (IMS), which sets out our principles and rules for the marketing and promotion of our products. The next phase is the roll-out of guidance and training on this revised document framework to further educate our employees regarding the behaviour that is expected of them in their work for Imperial Tobacco, and particularly in respect of their business decisions.
Imperial Tobacco and Altadis have taken similar approaches to corporate responsibility
Imperial Tobacco PLC (ITY) Tuesday posted a 30% rise in profit, boosted by both its Altadis acquisition and strong sales of its economy cigarette brands in Europe as consumers traded down - a trend it expects to continue in the year ahead.
Imperial, the world's fourth-largest tobacco company by sales, said it was making "very good" progress in integrating its Altadis acquisition and reassured investors that it has no pressing need to refinance its large debt.
Pretax profit before exceptional items in the year to Sept. 30 grew to GBP1.61 billion from GBP1.24 billion the previous year, in line with analysts' expectations.
Chief Executive Gareth Davis said on a conference call with reporters that the company had grown volumes and share in both its mature and emerging markets, with consumers trading down to its low cost brands like JPS in mature markets and trading up to its premium brands, such as Davidoff, in emerging markets.
The increased battle against tobacco — smoking restrictions, rising taxes and government regulations — has resulted in part to the closing of The Cigar Factory in Selma.
An official at the factory said Tuesday the last production day is Nov. 14. People will receive paychecks through Dec. 5, said Vlencon Brown, the plant manger.
Altadis U.S.A. owns the plant, which has manufactured blunt-shaped cigars.
Richard C. McKenzie, senior vice president of human resources for Altadis, said a decrease in consumer demand for the blunt-shaped cigar is another reason for the factory’s closure.
Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Europe's second-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, plans to cut 2,440 European jobs after buying Altadis SA for 12.6 billion euros ($20 billion) earlier this year.
Six of 58 factories will shut as staff numbers fall by about 6 percent, Imperial said today. The plants slated for closure are located in its hometown of Bristol, England, as well as Spain, France, Germany and Slovakia. The maker of Davidoff cigarettes fell 3.3 percent in London trading as the plan failed to persuade some analysts to lift their savings estimates.
Six of its 58 factories will shut as its payroll falls by about 6 percent, the Bristol, England-based company said today in a statement. The plants slated for closing are located in Spain, France, Germany, Slovakia and Imperial's hometown.
Western European tobacco companies have eliminated jobs and shut factories in the face of government restrictions on smoking and bans on advertisements that have cut into cigarette sales. The takeover of Altadis, the Madrid-based maker of Gauloises cigarettes and Don Diego cigars, added about 27,000 employees to Imperial's work force.
Imperial Tobacco will on Thursday unveil the long-awaited details of its planned restructuring of Altadis, the Franco-Spanish maker of Gitanes and Gauloise cigarettes it acquired last year for €12.6bn (£10bn).
As many as 2,400 jobs in France and Spain, or about 20 per cent of Altadis’ workforce in the two countries, could be axed as part of Imperial’s drive to hit its cost-saving targets, analysts said. . . .
Like its competitors, Imperial has seen cigarette sales in the UK and Europe, its core markets, fall amid increasing health concerns, smoking bans, higher taxes and advertising restrictions.
Yet the company has managed to expand spectacularly over the past decade thanks to relentless acquisitions and cost-cutting.
Imperial Tobacco is this week expected to launch one of Britain's biggest rights issues when it asks shareholders for up to £5bn.
The tobacco giant, which owns the Lambert & Butler, Davidoff and JPS cigarette brands, has already hinted that it will raise up to £5bn by July 18 so that it can keep up its investment-grade credit rating following the €12.6bn (£10m) purchase of Altadis.
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC has agreed to divest a number of fine cut and pipe tobacco brands to Philip Morris International for a consideration of ?254 million.
The divestment of a small number of brands in certain European markets was a condition of the European Commission's approval of the Group's acquisition of Altadis.
The divestment is subject to European Commission approval and includes the fine cut tobacco brands Interval, Bergerac, Santoya and Wervicq (France), Van Nelle (Italy and Canary Islands) and Picadura (Spain) and the pipe tobacco brands Bergerac (France) and Kilta (Finland).
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (Imperial) announces that it has today filed the accounts of its wholly owned subsidiary, Altadis, for the year ended 31 December 2007 with the Spanish Mercantile Registry. . . .
The Cigarette Division grew significantly during the year with strong positive performances in Spain, Morocco and the Middle East. . . .
The performance of the Cigar Division was impacted by the weakness of the US dollar. At constant exchange rates, economic sales rose by 2% and EBITDA by 1%.
In the USA, product launches and additional advertising and promotion expenditure to address Q1 sales declines showed positive results later in the year in spite of challenging market trends.
Sales of Cuban cigars grew by 6% in dollar terms with improvements in both mature and emerging markets.
Imperial Tobacco Group Plc (IMT.L) announced it has completed the disposal of its 49.95% shareholding in Aldeasa, S.A., held through its subsidiary Altadis, S.A., to Autogrill Espana S.A., a subsidiary of Autogrill S.p.A.
Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, the maker of Davidoff and West cigarettes, said costs related to its takeover of Altadis SA will lop 140 million pounds ($281 million) from the current fiscal year's profit.
The expenses concern the value of inventory, elimination of inter-company sales and depreciation adjustments, Imperial said today in a statement. Sales are meeting its forecast so far in the year, according to the Bristol, England-based company.