The world may feel like it is in the grip of recession, but sales of fat Cuban cigars are surging — in China and other emerging markets, at least.
Imperial Tobacco today highlighted the strength of its Cohiba and Montecristo distribution division, where smokes cost about £30 each, in the past nine months. Sales volumes of premium cigars in emerging markets soared 10%, a stark counterpoint to global cigarette sales volumes, which were down 3%.
Even in the developed world, luxury cigars seemed to retain their allure. Volume growth came in at 1% globally. But Imps is focusing on its key cigarette brands — Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, West and JPS — for most of its growth. Those smokes saw revenues rise 13%.
Overall, sales growth gathered pace at 3% over the nine months as the group continued recovering from a weak final quarter in 2011.
