25th Apr 2008 08:08
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC25 April 2008 Response to Office of Fair Trading ('OFT') Statement of Objections Imperial Tobacco Group PLC notes the OFT's announcement that it will today issuea Statement of Objections ("SO") to multiple retailers and tobacco manufacturersin its investigation into the retail pricing of tobacco products. Imperial Tobacco will review the SO in detail and provide its response to theOFT in due course. The OFT has emphasised that it will not be in a position to decide if there hasbeen an infringement of competition law until it has received responses from allthe recipients of the SO. Imperial Tobacco takes compliance with competition law very seriously andrejects any suggestion that it has acted in any way contrary to the interests ofconsumers. The OFT's investigation began in 2003, and relates to a period from March2000 to mid 2003. Imperial Tobacco has co-operated fully with the OFTthroughout. In the SO the OFT will explain for the first time the details it considers arerelevant to the alleged infringement of competition law. Imperial Tobacco has noted this investigation in its 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and2007 Annual Report and Accounts and 20-F filings. For further enquiries contact: Alex Parsons, Head of Corporate Communications+44 (0) 7967 467241 Simon Evans, Group Press Officer+44 (0)117 933 7375 John Nelson-Smith, Investor Relations Manager+44 (0)117 933 7032 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Imperial Brands