Imperial Tobacco UK sales up

Imperial Tobacco says it sold more cigarettes in the UK than a year ago.

Imperial is the world's fourth biggest cigarette maker and it says more smokers are choosing Imperial products as they look for cheaper brands. The producer of Lambert & Butler cigarettes, Rizla roll-up papers and Drum fine-cut tobacco, saw a slight increase in cigarette volumes to 21.1 billion, up from 20.8 billion in the previous year.

Rahul Sharma from Martin Currie Investment Managers says overall the tobacco industry is in decline.