In the Q2 report release yesterday, Altria said that its sales in Central Europe (-4.4% y-o-y) were negatively affected primarily by decline in the Czech and Slovak Republics. In the CR, Philip Morris's brands Petra and Sparta lost their share to very-low-price competitive brands. In Slovakia, comparisons were affected y-o-y by the timing of shipments in advance of the 2003 excise tax increase and a lower total market due to an increase in illegal cigarette sales. The company will release its results by the end of July.
Jan Hajek