March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Tanzania Cigarette Co., the country’s largest cigarette maker, said profit rose 27 percent last year as sales increased.

The company posted net income of 31.1 billion Tanzanian shillings ($23.8 million) for the year to Dec. 31, compared with 24.4 billion shillings a year earlier, it said in a statement published in the Dar es Salaam-based Citizen today.

Japan Tobacco International, a unit of Japan Tobacco Inc., the world’s third-largest tobacco manufacturer, owns 75 percent of Tanzania Cigarette Co. The remaining shares are traded on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah McGregor in Dar es Salaam via Johannesburg at 1933 or abolleurs@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 9, 2009 04:39 EDT