Imperial Tobacco says Sept.-ending year to meet view

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Imperial Tobacco Group PLC said performance for the year to Sept. 30 is still in line with company expectations, and the integration of Franco-Spanish cigarette and cigar maker Altadis is proceeding in line with expectations. Smoking bans in the U.K., Germany and Western Europe have contributed to industry-wide declines in cigarette consumption, and U.S. and Europe industry-wide cigar volumes have been hurt both by smoking bans and the economic slowdown. Separately, it's going to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, saying its ADR program is small and accounted for less than 5% of the total trading... [read full story]