Cigarettes | Marlboro $12.40, Camel - $11.80 | Discount Cigarettes Online
|
Search News
Investors in the 4.9 billion-pound ($10 billion) rights offering will have the right to buy one new share for every two held as of May 15, Imperial said today. The Bristol, England- based maker of Lambert & Butler and Davidoff cigarettes will sell 338.7 million new shares for 1,475 pence each, 44 percent less than yesterday's closing price. The company also said first-half profit slid 45 percent on costs for the deal, while integrating Altadis will cost more than expected. Imperial, which is selling stock to keep its investment-grade credit rating, fell 6.2 percent in London trading. Chief Financial Officer Bob Dyrbus said the rights issue was bigger than expected as the rising euro inflated the value of debt taken on with the takeover. ``There is a big wave of capital increases,'' said Antoine Beaugendre, an equity strategist at Societe Generale SA in Paris. ``When the environment is more uncertain, big companies seek to assure their long-term financing. Companies perceive pretty negative signals on the macroeconomic environment.'' Imperial said Altadis' performance since the deal is ``encouraging.'' The euro has increased 19 percent against the British pound since July 18, when the takeover was announced. Erik Bloomquist, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., had estimated Imperial would raise just 4.4 billion pounds. Costs related to the acquisition also cut 117 million pounds from profit, more than the 110 million pounds Imperial had forecast. Rainy Days "It is very important to be able to finance this group on sunny and rainy days," Dyrbus said. Standard & Poor's today affirmed Imperial's BBB long-term credit rating and removed it from so-called Creditwatch, meaning it had been considered for a downgrade. Imperial Tobacco fell 163 pence to 2,455 pence in London. The 6.2 percent drop was the steepest percentage decline since July, 2002. The stock has slid 9.5 percent in 2008, more than the 2 percent drop by larger competitor British American Tobacco Plc, the maker of Pall Mall cigarettes. The company agreed to buy Madrid-based Altadis in July of last year, gaining brands including Gauloises and the world's largest manufacturer of cigars. Most of Altadis' sales come from Spain and France, adding to its allure for Imperial, whose main U.K. and German markets are shrinking. Smoking bans in the U.K., where Imperial has the largest share of the market, will cut volumes by 2 percent, executives said on a conference call. Missing Estimates Net income dropped to 233 million pounds in the six months through March from 421 million pounds a year earlier, Imperial also said today. That missed the 370 million-pound median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Imperial said it lost market share in the U.K., and net financing costs more than doubled to 238 million pounds. First- half sales rose 39 percent to 2.11 billion pounds excluding tax, missing the survey's median estimate for 2.15 billion pounds. The company has raised its stake in Logista, the cigarette distributor controlled by Altadis, to about 97 percent following an offer to minority investors. Higher Cost Forecast Imperial Tobacco said it now expects costs of 600 million euros related to job cuts, plant closures and other measures to improve efficiency at Altadis, up from a previous target of 470 million euros. Cost savings are now forecast to be 400 million euros a year by the 12 months ending September 2012. The cigarette maker had to dispose of some brands to gain approval for the Altadis takeover under a European Commission ruling. Imperial agreed last month to sell Interval, France's best-selling fine-cut tobacco, and other brands to Philip Morris International for 254 million euros ($396 million). Imperial was formed when British companies combined in 1901 in the face of plans by U.S. tobacco executive James Duke to buy local cigarette makers. A trade war between Imperial and Duke's American Tobacco Co. ended in the following year with the foundation of British American Tobacco. The U.K. tobacco company also said it has ended an alliance with Philip Morris International Inc. under which the New York- based cigarette maker would distribute Altadis's brands across Asia. Imperial Tobacco may be interested in other joint projects with that company, Davis added. © Copyright 2006 by CigarettesOn.Com |
| Our
Partners CigarettesBox.Com Discount Cigarettes Cigarettes For USA, |
|
||||
