Although Lankans smoked fewer cigarettes last year and the sales volume of Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC), the only legal cigarettes manufacturer in the country, declined due to affordability factors, the company paid a massive Rs.50 billion taxes to the government, CTC said in a news release.

The company was also able to increase its own profit after-tax by Rs.867 million last year despite lower sales.

It said that sales volumes were down as a result of higher excise-led price increases and diminishing consumer affordability of cigarettes.

Contribution to government revenue came from excise duties, VAT, Provincial Council tax and corporate tax paid by CTC whose payments totalling Rs.50 billion to the Treasury last year was up Rs. 9 billion from a year earlier.

"Last year despite economic challenges faced by many corporates worldwide, CTC remained one of the largest contributors to government revenue," the news release said.

The availability of the counterfeit and illegal cigarettes on the local market had declined last year with law enforcement officers conducting more than 440 raids to minimize the presence of illegal cigarettes, CTC said.

"The confiscated illegal tobacco products amounted to the value of over Rs.335 million," the release said.

CTC attributed its profit growth to "bold and innovative initiatives" in consolidating the distribution network, further localizing material inputs and development restructuring. These made significant savings possible for the company and helped it to grow its profits last year by Rs.867 million.

CTC has also doubled its investment in a sustainable agricultural development project (SADP) for poverty alleviation on which it has focused over the last three years.

"SADP touch lives of 3,578 families in rural Sri Lanka unfolding a simple formula to achieve sustainable development through their own effort," CTC said.

A total of 205 families helped by the program exited as they had achieved self-sufficiency last year. This program has been extended to the Eastern Province in line with government’s Nagenahira Navodaya program.

The SADP formula to be applied in identified areas in Eastern Province is expected to benefit a large number of families now relocated in the East.