Imperial new CEO focuses on growth

By David Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Imperial Tobacco's (IMT.L) new chief executive-designate Alison Cooper put a new focus on boosting sales after the world's No. 4 cigarette group beat forecasts with an 18 percent rise in annual earnings.

Cooper, currently number two at Imperial, will take over from Gareth Davis in May. She said the maker of Lambert & Butler, West and Gauloises cigarettes had coped well with recession but now was the time to push the growth button.

"So far we have done pretty well in the downturn, now the emphasis will be on growing sales with our strong global position," she said at an annual results conference call.

Cooper, 43, was named as Davis's replacement on Tuesday after being made chief operating officer earlier this year in March and had been widely tipped to take over as chief executive after some eight years working at Imperial.

Davis said there would be no revolution in strategy but Imperial, which had been well known for cost control and cash management, would modify its strategy to give greater focus of sales growth after the group's rapid growth through acquisition under his 14 years of leadership.

Davis, 59, will retire as CEO on May 12, 2010, a day before his 60th birthday.

The shares were 3.5 percent higher at 18.94 pounds by 8:30 a.m. boosted by strong earnings and cash generation, and analyst Julian Hardwick at house broker RBS said the group had showed "strong progress across the board."

The group posted adjusted earnings per share of 161.8 pence for the year to end-September, beating a forecast of 160 pence, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, while the full-year dividend was raised 16 percent to 73 pence a share.