Measures taken by British American Tobacco Zimbabwe to curb cross border trade in cigarettes are reported to have reduced the trade by 15 percent during the first half of this year.
The company does not state what these measures were, but Zimbabwean cigarettes were reported to be very popular in Botswana and South Africa where they fetched good prices because they were cheaper because of the skewed exchange rate.
The company says in its report for the six months to June, its own cigarette exports were up 38 percent while exports of semi-processed tobacco increased by 35 percent.
Its turnover shot up from $3.4 billion to $17.9 billion with the government netting $7.8 billion in excise duty, up from $1.5 billion.
Net profit increased from $684.1million to $8.6 billion.
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