Goes Ex. Divi on Wed (30p). yet the price has been going down, any holders have an incite as to why at all.

Regards

Stan .

Doesn't look like it stan, think it'll be a long wait to get div money back.,.

To early in the day BB, Have another look.

Out with a few quid.. over to you BB.

..Japanese smoke signals push up Imperial

By Rachel Cooper | Telegraph – 2 hours 27 minutes ago

Having ticked up after a trading update earlier this week, Imperial Tobacco (LSE: IMT.L - news) rose another 5p to £23.08 as takeover speculation refused to be stubbed out.

The maker of Gauloises and Davidoff cigarettes has long been mooted as a potential target to be taken out, with a combination of British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco (Dusseldorf: JAT.DU - news) regarded as a possible suitor.

Nomura analysts had urged investors to hold their horses over a possible deal, suggesting in November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E - news) that it might be at least a year before the cigarette maker receives an approach, given uncertainty over when the Japanese government will sell its stake in Japan Tobacco.

But yesterday, analysts suggested that the upcoming resolution of the government stake sale means that Imperial’s prospects of being taken over are set to increasingly be a focus for the market.

Nomura previously thought that any deal could be delayed until the end of this year or into 2013. But with budgetary changes in Japan (EUREX: FMJP.EX - news) compelling the government to sell part of its 50pc stake in Japan Tobacco from April, Nomura thinks this will give the company more freedom over its business decisions. “We now see Japan Tobacco as potentially more confident to enact any plans in terms of major developments of its international presence,” said analysts, who upped their rating on Imperial (Berlin: IOD.BE - news) to “neutral” from “reduce

Smoking might be a mug's game, but investing in Imperial Tobacco certainly hasn't been. Since 2009, the shares have risen from £14 to today's £23, for a 64% gain, and that's been topped up with nice dividends into the bargain -- although the price has been higher, at £26, as recently as July.

Tuesday 30 October is expected to bring us more of the same when the company releases its latest full-year results. We already know from last week's trading statement that things are in line with expectations and that total revenues are going to be up around 4%.

We should see a dividend of around 4.5%, and that's expected to rise to 4.9% next year. At 11.5, the P/E looks undemanding, so the fall from this year's peak share price might well be a buying opportunity.

The one big set of full-time results next week comes from Imperial Tobacco , on Tuesday, and what an investment it has been. The share price has multiplied two and a half times over the past decade to reach 2,330p. But that was interrupted by a slump during the global recession and a recovery that hasn't quite regained pre-crash levels.

To compensate for that volatility, Imperial Tobacco has been paying a steady dividend of around the 4% mark. For the year ended September, the City has forecast a payout of around 4.6%, rising to 5% on 2013 forecasts. What are the chances of that coming good?

They look high, as September's trading update told us that performance is "in line with the Board's expectations", with net revenues expected

Out yesterday, Divi up 11% over the year http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4473669

Imperial Tobacco boosted its full-year dividend by a very nice 11% to 105.6p per share this week, giving shareholders a yield of 4.4% based on the current share price of 2,381p. And it's nicely covered as well, by earnings per share of 201p.

Imperial is one of the few companies that was pretty much unaffected by the banking crisis and the recession, and has steadily grown its earnings and dividend payouts year after year.

Ex-divi wed 16th Jan '13 (73.9p)

One of my biggest holdings, never fails to deliver the goods.

Interim Management Statement

Quality Growth through Total Tobacco

· Tobacco net revenue up over 2 per cent, with price mix improvement of 3.5 per cent
· Stick equivalent volumes down 1 per cent
· Q1 growth across total tobacco portfolio:
· +12 per cent net revenue and +10 per cent volume growth in key strategic brands
· +9 per cent net revenue and +9 per cent volume growth in fine cut tobacco
· +40 per cent net revenue and +33 per cent volume growth in snus
· Stable net revenue and +3 per cent volume growth in premium cigar

"One of my biggest holdings, never fails to deliver the goods." Famous last words eh dandu? -5% -): Still backy shares rarely stay down for to long.

Interim Management Statement

Overview

· Nine month performance confirms our full year expectations
· Significant progress made with next phase of strategic transition to optimise long-term growth potential:
· new sales divisions established, reinforcing the strategic role of each market;
· strategic review of cigarette and fine cut brands portfolio completed, now being built into execution plans;
· cost optimisation programme on track, with savings of at least £30m to be realised this year;
· new Group Marketing Director appointed
· Encouraging core portfolio performance in an environment of weak industry volumes:
· Underlying1 stick equivalent volume and revenue declines of 5 per cent and 1 per cent
· reported stick equivalent volume and revenue declines of 7 per cent and 3 per cent
· key strategic brands outperforming market trends: underlying1 volumes declined 1 per cent, with growth in total market share; reported volumes were down 4 per cent
· excellent fine cut tobacco performance and good growth in premium cigar and snus.
· notable progress in many key markets including Germany, Greece, Scandinavia, Australia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Turkey.

Just seen who their Chief Executive is.. Alice Cooper -):

I thought he spent most of his time playing golf these days!

New Financial Director http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4667029

Barclays Capital Equal weight 2,211.00 - 2,600.00 Reiterates

Finals out today... But later I think with these.

Or maybe not!

Annual Financial Report

Preliminary Results for the 12 months ended 30 September 2013

Overview
· Significant transition progress: realigned footprint and optimised brand portfolio
· Robust performance: earnings per share up 6 per cent at constant currency
· Enhanced quality of growth, driven by Growth Brands and Growth Markets
o Growth Brands: share up (+30bps); net revenue up 2 per cent
o Growth Markets: share up (excluding Russia); net revenue +2%, profit +7%
o Returns Markets: robust profit performance
· Cost optimisation initiatives deliver £30 million; on track for £300 million pa by 2018
· Strong cash conversion: 86%
· Full year dividend per share +10% to 116.4p; total of £1.6bn returned to shareholders in year

Ex-divi wed 15th Jan 2014 (81.2p)