Imperial Tobacco share price: Company considers sale of further stake in Logista

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc (LON:IMT) is considering selling an additional stake in its Spanish logistics unit Cia. de Distribution Integral Logista Holdings SA, Bloomberg reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. According to the sources, Imperial Tobacco may trim its stake in Logista to just over 50 percent via a sale to institutions. Two of the sources also said the UK tobacco giant could even seek a buyer for its entire holding in the unit, which currently stands at about 70 percent.

Imperial Tobacco floated a portion of Logista on the Spanish stock exchange last year, raising £395 million, which it used to pay debts. Logista shares have soared about 42 percent since the initial public offering, giving the business a market capitalisation of about €2.5 billion. In May the unit revealed that sales had fallen 3.5 percent to €494 million in the six months of the fiscal year, while net income increased 16 percent to €47 million.
Berenberg analyst Erik Bloomquist told Bloomberg that a sale of additional stocks in Logista would help Imperial Tobacco reduce debt following its acquisition of cigarette brands from Reynolds American Inc.“From an investor perspective, selling down Logista would reinforce management’s commitment to further focus the business,” Bloomquist observed, as quoted by Bloomberg.
In today’s trading, Imperial Tobacco shares were up 0.6 percent at 3,326.00p, as of 12:57 BST. The stock has risen 17.3 percent since the start of the year and the company’s market capitalisation currently stands at £31.5 billion.
The 16 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Imperial Tobacco have a median target of 3,525p, with a high estimate of 4,000p and a low estimate of 2,700p.
As of 14:29 BST, Thursday, 16 July, Imperial Tobacco Group PLC share price is 3,327.00p.