Friday, February 24, 2012

credit ratings of Imperial tobacco

credit ratings of Imperial tobacco : Imperial Tobacco Group PLC finances continue to improve, but the weak size of the U.K.-based tobacco group's operations in fast-growing emerging markets weighs on investor sentiment, Moody's Corp. (>> Moody's Corporation) said Friday.

"We have noted significant improvements in Imperial's key financial ratios over the past three financial years. [We expect] Imperial will further strengthen its financial leverage and maintain its cash flow coverage ratios," the ratings agency said in an investor report.

"However, we note that Imperial might remain more challenged than its peers to maintain its existing market share, as a result of its weaker presence in high-growth emerging markets," it added.

It said the company needs to demonstrate a "resilient" operating performance. "Negative pressure on Imperial's ratings could arise from a weaker-than-expected operating performance or a sizeable debt-financed acquisition," it said.

Earlier this month, the maker of Lambert & Butler, Gitanes Blondes and JPS cigarettes said its fiscal-year performance is on track, even as the world's fourth-largest tobacco group by sales posted a fall in first-quarter revenue and volume, hit by a trade ban in Syria, competition, trade buying patterns and destocking.

Imperial's investment priority is to further build its position in growth economies such as Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where adult and middle-class populations are rising. read more..
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