Sri Lanka has witnessed a ‘Beedi Boom’ with an increased volume of 4.8 billion sticks a year in 2018, Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) latest quarterly financial highlights adding that it is a steep increase from 2017s numbers, amid a fragile economy.

Financials from CTC said that key threat to government revenue from the tobacco industry is Beedi and these were fueled by macroeconomic factors that impacting consumer spending power.

In 2017, the CTC said legal tax-paid cigarettes comprised 3.15 billion sticks and beedi was 3.78 billion sticks and that smuggled cigarettes were estimated at 460 million with 51 million sticks caught in raids. According to CTC’s financials it estimates smuggled cigarettes at 10 times the detected volumes.

Due to the above situation CTC said that company’s sales volume for the fourth quarter ending 31st December 2018 declined by 3.2% compared to same period in 2017 to the impact of the excise led cigarette price increase effective from 1st of August 2018.

“Total volume for the entire year remained same” the CTC financials said adding that contribution to government revenue through excise, other levies and taxes increased by Rs.7.53 billion with a 6.4% growth, whilst company's revenue increased Rs. 1.77 billion compared to last year.

Sri Lanka's Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc (CTC), is a unit of British American Tobacco, and the firm has reported earnings of Rs. 28.11 per share for the quarter, whilst during the year to December 2018, CTC reported earnings of Rs. 90.77on total profits of Rs. 17.04 billion, up from Rs. 14.5 billion a year earlier.

Company’s financials further outlines that total revenue has increased from Rs. 138.5 billion in 2017 to Rs. 145.2 billion in 2018 for the entire financial year.