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Gallaher calls recovery in problem markets in second half 

Gallaher Group PLC's chief executive Nigel Northridge said a recovery is in progress in the tobacco group's four problem markets, which have seen a downturn caused chiefly by fierce price competition, hurting profits this year.

Western Europe's fourth-biggest tobacco maker has suffered in Austria, Spain, Poland and Sweden in the last year, as a combination of government tax hikes and price fights among low-cost brands hit profits and skewed market shares.

This year analysts have penciled in adjusted earnings per share growth of only 3-4 pct for the maker of Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut and Mayfair cigarettes. The group has a long term target of high single digits.

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