The Eastern Co. in Egypt has increased the prices of 10 popular cigarette brands, reports the Daily News Egypt.
The new prices took effect Sept. 4, after receiving approval from the company’s board of directors in accordance with the provisions of Egypt’s VAT and health insurance laws.
Eastern Co. Managing Director and CEO Hani Aman attributed the price hikes to a rise in the cost of raw materials. We were careful to make the increase as low as possible,” he was quoted as saying.
The price increases ranged from EGP1.5 ($0.08) to EGP2 and included popular brands like Cleopatra Box, Cleopatra Super and Mondial.
This is Eastern Co.’s second price increase in about six months. In March, the company increases the prices of 10 types of local cigarettes by rates ranging from 4.3 percent to 9.5 percent.
The Eastern Co. reported an after-tax net profit of EGP4.25 billion during the nine months ending in in March, up 9 percent over the comparable 2021 period.
Sales increased by 6 percent to reach EGP51.47 billion during the period from July 2021 to March 2022, compared to EGP48.74 billion in the same period of last year.