Cigar-loving Alison Cooper is new Imperial chief
Alison Cooper will become the latest in the handful of women in charge of a FTSE 100 company when she takes the reins at Imperial Tobacco next May.
Smoke signals: The downturn in overseas travel means smokers are buying more cigarettes locally.
The 43-year-old mother of two, who admitted to a penchant for cigars, will replace longstanding chief executive Gareth Davis when he retires after 37 years at the Lambert & Butler cigarette maker.
Cooper will become the fifth female chief executive of a top tier firm. There are three Americans: Angela Ahrendts at Burberry, Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American and Marjorie Scardino at Pearson, and one other Briton, Katherine Garrett-Cox at Alliance Trust.
But Cooper played down the significance of her sex, saying the female card wasn't one she thought about or played.
She said: 'I don't see it like that. I see a job to do.'
Cooper, who was appointed as Imperial's chief operating officer earlier this year, had been touted as the frontrunner for Davis's role.
Barclays Wealth said: 'She is well known to investors and an Imperial veteran so continuity in the business will be maintained.' Davis has done well for investors during his tenure. The 59-year-old led the group through its demerger from Hanson in 1996, then expanded it through the acquisitions of Reemstsma and Franco-Spanish rival Altadis.
Shares in the group have risen from 394p at the demerger to £18.69 yesterday, up 41p on the day.
Davis said: 'I have done 14 years as chief executive. Time is ripe for a change.
'I have one non-executive post and I would hope to add to that portfolio. I would one day like to be chairman of a company.'
As well as its acquisitions, Imperial Tobacco has been known for its focus on cost control under Davis.
Cooper plans to put more emphasis on sales growth.
The change at the top coincided with the group's full-year results showing pre-tax profits jumped 52% to £945m as it reaped the benefits of last year's Altadis acquisition.
It has cut its debt pile to £10.8bn from £14bn at the end of March and it hiked its dividend by 16pc to 73p.
Imperial is an unlikely beneficiary of the 'staycation' phenomenon with UK underlying profits up 3% to £601m.
The downturn in overseas travel means smokers are buying more cigarettes locally.
They are also saving pennies by rolling their own.
Imperial estimates that the fine cut tobacco market in the UK has grown to 4,450 tonnes in 2009 from 3,750 in 2008.
Imperial Tobacco did not reveal Cooper's pay package. The annual report shows she took home £1.39m last year compared to Davis's £3.9m.
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