The first three months of the smoking ban in England sent cigarette sales plummeting, Imperial Tobacco said yesterday, as it revealed that its £11 billion takeover of Altadis has been delayed by the Spanish regulator.

Imperial said that the smoking ban and a poor summer combined to undo a buoyant first half, with volumes falling by around 2 per cent for the year to September 30. The smoking ban was introduced in England on July 1.

The company said that it expected the initial impact of the ban to dissipate and annual cigarette market declines of 3 per cent to 4 per cent, “in line with the long-term trend”.

The company reported a 6 per cent improvement in full-year group pretax profits of £1.2 billion, boosted by growth in Asia. British revenue rose 5 per cent, to £876 million.

The profit growth failed to prevent a dip in shares, which slipped 4p to £24.26½p as the market reacted to Imperial pushing back its estimate for completion of the acquisition of Altadis, the Franco-Spanish tobacco maker, until next January, after a change in Spanish takeover rules.

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