Imps sales up in smoke as decline gets worse

The decline at Britain's market-leading cigarette seller is accelerating.

Imperial Tobacco, the name behind the UK's two biggest-selling brands Lambert & Butler and Richmond, said today its UK sales have crashed more than 9% over the winter, down one billion cigarettes in the six months to the end of March to 9.8 billion.

In the same period last year, the fall had been around 7.5%. Imps' UK market share, which also includes sales of Superkings and Embassy brands, has now slipped to 45%. The increasing financial cost of smoking has seen many consumers turn to rolling their own but even that is not working out for Imps.

It is reckoned that as total UK cigarette sales fall by around 2.2% a year, rolling tobacco sales are growing at 15%.

Imps' roll-your-own sales growth, however, has stalled at around 4% as smokers look for cheaper options to its Drum and Golden Virginia brands.

The group transformed by the acquisition of the Anglo-French tobacco giant Altadis reported total profits of £998 million in the six months on revenues of £12.4 billion. The interim dividend is marginally ahead at 21p.