Shares in Imperial Tobacco were down on the FTSE 100 ahead of the group's full year results, due out tomorrow.

In July the company reported a fall in demand for cigarettes, especially in Spain, the US, Russia and the Ukraine. Central Europe however saw a rise in cigarette volumes.

Despite the fall in cigarette volumes, sales overall were helped by a rise in volumes of cheaper roll-up tobacco. Trading was described as being "in line" with expectations.

Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said, "Current full year pre-tax profit estimates provide a median figure of £2.34 billion, up just under 5 percent from the year previous, whilst analyst opinion denotes a strong buy ".

By 16:50 shares in Imperial Tobacco were down 1.15 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 1,896.00 pence per share.