Discount Cigarettes News
Mar 3rd, 2008 - 12:21:20
India's Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram on Feb. 29 raised the excise tax on non-filter cigarettes to the same level as the filter-tipped variety. The overall-weighted duty increase for ITC is equivalent to about 16 percent, Citigroup Inc. said. The increase is ``steeper than expected,'' Citigroup analysts Princy Singh and Pragati Khadse said in a note to clients dated Feb. 29. ``Price hikes are likely to have an adverse impact on cigarette volumes.'' Non-filter cigarettes account for 20 percent of ITC's sales and less than 10 percent of profit, the analysts said. Shares of Kolkata-based ITC fell 8.05 rupees, or 4 percent, to 194.10 rupees as of 12:31 p.m. local time on the Bombay Stock Exchange, heading for their biggest one-day decline since Feb. 11. ITC'S stock rating was cut to ``neutral'' from ``buy'' by UBS AG and the price target was reduced to 235 rupees from 280 rupees. Morgan Stanley cut its rating to ``underweight'' from ``equal weight.'' UBS forecasts cigarette volumes will decline 2.5 percent in the year ending March 31, 2009, from the earlier estimated gain of 4 percent. © Copyright 2006 by DiscountCigarettesBox.Com Top of Page |
