JTI, 122m-euro turnover in H1

Cigarette producer JT International Romania in the first half of the year reported turnover worth 433m RON (around 122m euros), up 19 percent from the same period of last year, stated the company’s corporate affairs manager, Gilda Lazar. JTI expects 2006 turnover to be worth 980m RON (272 million euros), around 23% higher than last year’s level of 794m RON. “The evolution we saw in the first 6 months is due to the price hike during the 2005-2006 interval, operated in the wake of the excise raise and the vice tax introduction,” stated Lazar. JTI produces and sells Camel, Salem, Winston, Monte Carlo, Winchester and More brands in Romania, whose prices have gone up by 30% on average since the introduction of the tax on vice.