January-December 2012 (net change versus prior year).
Full year adjusted EBITDA grew 9.1%, or 22.5% at constant rates of exchange, exceeding our forecast.
Core revenue increased 5.4%, as a result of strong pricing and total shipment volume growth. At constant rates of exchange, core revenue grew 12.6% and core revenue per thousand cigarettes increased 9.7%.
GFB shipment volume grew 4.8%. This was driven by growth in all clusters and in particular in Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other CIS+ markets.
Total shipment volume grew 2.5% due to GFB shipment volume growth despite an overall challenging business environment. In Europe our total shipment volume grew 2.5%.
October-December 2012 (net change versus prior year)
Core revenue increased 8.0%, as a result of strong pricing and GFB shipment volume growth. At constant rates of exchange, core revenue grew 14.1% and core revenue per thousand cigarettes increased 11.3%.
GFB shipment volume grew 4.0% driven by Turkey, Russia and other CIS+ markets where our strong brand equity continues to generate strong results.
Total shipment volume increased 2.4% due to GFB shipment volume growth.
Year-on-year market share, including cigarettes and fine cut, grew in France, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey and UK.