Egyptian cigarette maker Eastern posts 17 pct jump in profit

Eastern, which has a monopoly for producing cigarettes in the country of 86 million people, lifted sales by 13 percent to 6.2 billion Egyptian pounds ($867 million), though it now faces the challenge of a government-imposed increase in tax on cigarettes.

Egypt raised the sales tax on cigarettes by up to 120 percent this month as part of a series of measures to curb the budget deficit and reform the economy.