Imperial, BAT hike price of cheap smokes in Spain
MADRID (Reuters) - Imperial Tobacco , Gallaher Group Plc and British American Tobacco raised the price of their cheap brands of cigarettes in Spain by 0.1 euro (0.07 pence) on Saturday, the Official State Bulletin showed.
The cheaper brands have been gaining market share from the dominant brands made by Altadis and Altria Group Inc. this year after the Spanish government hiked taxes on tobacco as a means of discouraging smokers.
Imperial's John Player Special brand for example, whose price rises to 1.85 euros from 1.75, has increased its market share to 4.4 percent in the first four months of this year, from 1.3 percent in the same period of 2005.
BAT's leading cheap brand, Pall Mall, now has a market share of 3.3 percent compared with 0.3 percent a year ago. It increases its price to 1.85 euros from Saturday as does Gallaher's Coronas.
Smoking has declined in Spain since January 1 when the government banned the habit at work and in many public places.
Cigarette sales are down 6 percent in volume in the first four months of this year compared with a year earlier, figures from the Tobacco Market Commission show.
