Email
Password
(Forgot Password?)
Shares in Imperial Tobacco Group Plc were higher in early trade after, according to dealers, with Credit Suisse upping its rating on the company to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and upped the target price to 2,750 pence, from 2,550 pence.
At 8.22 a.m., Imperial Tobacco was 8 pence higher at 2,492. The FTSE 100 was down 29.2 points at 6,241.6.
In a note to clients, Credit Suisse said it thinks Imperial's shares are poised to re-rate to P/E levels more in line with rivals such as British American Tobacco Plc.
Jump to full article »
Philip Morris International said it agreed to buy the Interval trademark and certain other trademarks from Imperial Tobacco Group PLC for 254 million euros ($405.4 million).
Philip Morris expects the deal to add 1 cent a share to earnings.
The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, is subject to approval by the European Commission and other local regulatory agencies.
In a separate statement, Imperial Tobacco said the divestment of a small number of brands in certain European markets was a condition of the European Commission's approval of its buy of Franco-Spanish rival Altadis.
Tobacco firms and supermarkets face massive fines following allegations of collusion over the price of cigarettes.
Imperial Tobacco, responsible for brands such as Embassy, and Gallaher, which owns Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut, are in the dock.
Eleven stores, including Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, are also under investigation for what has been described as 'dodgy dealing'.
The Office of Fair Trading yesterday announced it is investigating claims the companies colluded.
The OFT has issued a statement of objections alleging that certain tobacco manufacturers and retailers have engaged in unlawful practices in relation to retail prices for tobacco products in the UK.
The statement of objections sets out the OFT's proposed findings against tobacco manufacturers Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher, and eleven retailers - Asda, the Co-operative Group, First Quench, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury, Shell, Somerfield, T&S Stores, Tesco and TM Retail.
The OFT alleges that these tobacco manufacturers and retailers variously engaged in one or more unlawful practices in relation to retail prices for some or all of a number of tobacco products in breach of the Competition Act 1998
Tesco Plc, Imperial Tobacco Group Plc and 11 other companies were accused of coordinating cigarette prices between 2000 and 2003 in the U.K. antitrust regulator's first formal probe of tobacco sales.
The Office of Fair Trading said today it found evidence of 11 retailers and two manufacturers linking the price of tobacco brands made by competing companies. The regulator in London is also examining whether Imperial, Japan Tobacco Inc.'s Gallaher unit and five retailers shared information on prices. . . .
``A manufacturer would ask the retailer to sell his brand X at the same price or at a coordinated price below his competitor's brand Y,'' Gladstone said. ``There were also instances where manufacturers informed retailers about future pricing in the knowledge that retailers would likely tell rival manufacturers.''
The regulator said it may, where applicable, seek to attribute liability to parent companies. The companies can now file arguments refuting the OFT's so-called statement of objections, which lays out the regulator's findings.
Japan Tobacco, which acquired Gallaher last year for $15.4 billion, said it has been fully cooperating with the OFT.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has alleged tobacco firms and supermarkets have been engaged in unlawful practices linked to retail prices for tobacco.
The OFT names 11 retailers, including Asda, Sainsbury and Tesco, and tobacco firms Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher.
One allegation is that retailers and tobacco groups arranged to swap information on future pricing.
A separate allegation is that there was an understanding that the price of some brands would be linked to rival brands.
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).
Major retailers and two tobacco manufacturers are facing an investigation over allegations of unlawful cigarette pricing practices.
Tobacco giants Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher were named alongside chains including supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda in a "statement of objections" issued by the Office of Fair Trading.
The consumer affairs watchdog has accused the groups of anti-competitive pricing, alleging that firms co-ordinated to link the price of some brands to rival products and separately that some of those named arranged to swap information on future pricing.
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 notes the OFT's announcement that it will today issue a Statement of Objections ("SO") to multiple retailers and tobacco manufacturers in its investigation into the retail pricing of tobacco products.
Imperial Tobacco will review the SO in detail and provide its response to the OFT in due course.
The OFT has emphasised that it will not be in a position to decide if there has been an infringement of competition law until it has received responses from all the recipients of the SO.
Imperial Tobacco takes compliance with competition law very seriously and rejects any suggestion that it has acted in any way contrary to the interests of consumers.
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is pleased to announce, with immediate effect, the appointment of Bruno Bich as a Non-Executive Director of the Company.
Mr Bich (61), is Non-Executive Chairman of the BIC Group, having been appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in June 1993.
Competition authorities alleged on Friday that two cigarette companies and eleven retailers had engaged in "unlawful practices" relating to retail tobacco prices.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) began probing tobacco pricing in March 2003 but had not revealed the investigation until Friday.
"The OFT has issued a statement of objections alleging that certain tobacco manufacturers and retailers have engaged in unlawful practices in relation to retail prices for tobacco products in the UK," it said in a release.
"The statement of objections sets out the OFT's proposed findings against tobacco manufacturers Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher, and eleven retailers -- Asda, the Co-operative Group, First Quench, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury, Shell, Somerfield, T&S Stores, Tesco and TM Retail."
Tesco Plc, Imperial Tobacco Group Plc and eleven other companies were accused of fixing cigarette prices between 2000 and 2003 by the U.K.'s antitrust regulator, opening the first formal probe of tobacco sales.
The Office of Fair Trading said today it's investigating whether 11 retailers and two manufacturers linked the price of tobacco brands made by competing companies. The regulator in London is also examining whether Imperial, Japan Tobacco Inc.'s Gallaher unit and five retailers shared information on prices.
The probe is the second in the last six months involving U.K. retailers. In December, supermarkets including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Asda and J Sainsbury Plc agreed to pay fines of as much as 116 million pounds ($228.5 million) for fixing milk prices in 2002 and 2003 after an Office of Fair Trading probe. . . .
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Somerfield Ltd., Co-operative Group Ltd., William Morrison Supermarkets Plc, Safeway Plc, First Quench Retailing Ltd., T&S Stores Plc and TM Retail Ltd. were also named
The competition watchdog is today expected to unveil wide-ranging allegations of cigarette price-fixing involving tobacco companies and retailers, days after it was forced to make a humiliating apology over incorrect accusations in another antitrust probe.
People familiar with the tobacco investigation say the Office of Fair Trading will name leading supermarkets, 48 hours after it agreed to pay Wm Morrison �100,000 damages and costs over mistakes in a statement about alleged milk price-fixing.
The cigarette announcement - the latest sign of the OFT's tightening clampdown on antitrust activity - relates to alleged deals between the tobacco companies and a broad spectrum of retailers, people familiar with the investigation say.
Companies involved in price-fixing can face fines of up to 10 per cent of annual turnover