Carreras winds up pension for $3.4b
CARRERAS Limited has received $3.4 billion from the winding up of a pension scheme and saw a slight increase in its profit.
The group had a superannuation scheme, which was replaced by a new fund with two components — a defined benefit and a defined contribution segment.
“The trustees of the pension scheme had gone through a process, under the guidelines of the Financial Services Commission. A decision was made in September that the sum be paid over,” said Patrice Gray, Carrera’s financial director.
Second quarter was unusual because of the pension
wind up, Gray said. Notwithstanding, we are improving our profit, she said.
The local manufacturer and distributor of the cigarettes saw a slight increase in its underlining profit. For the three months ended September posted $1.2 billion for its gross operating profit, $6.1 million more than the same period last year.
Carreras has had issues with counterfeit cigarettes that were being sold and the illicit trade in tobacco.
To combat the sale of copycat versions of the cigarettes, the company established a hotline for customers to report counterfeit products.
Richard Pandohie, Carrera’s managing director, expressed optimism that the government is getting on top of problems of counterfeit and contraband cigarettes plaguing the industry.
