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• Imperial Dips on Dividend Worries 

Shares in Imperial Tobacco dipped on Tuesday as the world's fourth-largest cigarette maker signalled dividend growth may moderate after it met forecasts with a 14 percent rise in half-year earnings.

The maker of Lambert & Butler, West and Gauloises cigarettes said it retains its policy to pay out 50 percent of earnings as dividend, but in the near-term this may moderate due to the cost of restructuring at its recent Altadis acquisition.

Imperial shares slipped as much as 6.5 percent before trading off 5.3 percent at 15.45 pounds by 10:22 a.m. to be the FTSE 100 Index's biggest faller as analysts moved to cut their forecasts for the group's full-year dividend.

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