Tobacco firm Gallaher Group today reported a 4.9 per cent rise in yearly profit.
The world's fifth-largest cigarette group, which is being taken over by Japan Tobacco, posted 2006 profit before tax, amortisation and exceptional items of £597 million.
Gallaher's adjusted earnings per share rose 4.3 per cent to 65.8p, below its long-term target for a high-single-digit percentage rise due to tough trading in Austria, Spain and Poland, and well below British American Tobacco, which showed a 10 per cent rise in 2006 adjusted earnings yesterday.
Gallaher said current trading was in line with its expectations.
Japan Tobacco, the world's number three cigarette group, made an agreed bid for Gallaher at £11.40 a share last December valuing it at £7.5 billion, or £9.75 billion including debt, in a deal set to be completed next month.