Sales Manager in Jerusalem Cigarette Company, Jamal Aadaalh said the company is implementing an austerity plan to reduce losses it has been suffering from for about a year.

In an interview with Palestine Economy Portal, Sales Manager explained that the company is experiencing more than a year of decline in sales due to smuggling operations and selling cigarettes one at a time.

He added that the company laid off about 120 employees during the year as part of the austerity plan.

The company’s losses reached around one million JDs (US $ 1.4 million) for the first half of 2015, according to a statement released by the company published by the Palestine Exchange.

The company statement, which is listed on the Palestine Exchange, clarified that the losses has deepened by 12.38%, compared to the losses of the first half of 2014, which amounted to 921.6 thousand JDs ($ 1.2 million).

The Company’s losses has deepened by close to that percentage also in the first quarter, a 12.2% loss to reach 672.9 thousand JDs (about 946.6 US dollars), compared with losses in the first quarter of 2014 amounting to 599.8 thousand JDs (about 843.8 thousand US dollars).

The Company works in manufacturing, trading and cultivation of tobacco and cigarettes, and distributing and exporting them; in addition to any industrial and investment projects, ownership of land, buildings, machines, tools and automotive necessary for its purposes.

The Company’s capital is 10 million JDs, distributed over 10 million shares, with a par value of one JD for each share.

(Palestine Econoy Portal)