REFILE-Philip Morris CR halts home market share drop -CEO

(Fixes spelling of 'cigarette' in first paragraph)

PRAGUE, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Czech cigarette maker Philip Morris CR <TABKsp.PR> expects its domestic market share to stabilise in the second half after dropping in the first six months, Chief Executive Officer Anja Fiedler said on Wednesday.

"Our market share has been stabilising at around 62.8 percent and I think that's very positive," Fiedler told Reuters in a brief interview.

"We have some signs that we can say that this positive trend hopefully will continue," she added.

The drop in the company's share of its key home market -- to 62.8 percent from 69 percent in the first half of last year -- has sparked investor concerns over the sales outlook.

Cheaper foreign brands have risen in popularity and eaten into the company's local sales after cigarettes became more expensive following an excise tax hike by the government.

Philip Morris CR is controlled by the U.S.-based food and tobacco group Altria Group Inc. <MO.N>. ((Reporting by Jan Korselt; Writing by Marek Petrus; Editing by Alan Crosby; Reuters Messaging: rm://marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; Tel: +420 224 190 477))

For main central European company news, double click on [.CEE] E.Europe hot stocks [HOT-EEU] Main E.Europe news [TOP/EAST] Related stories on [HU] [PL] [CZ] [EEU-STX] [EEU-RES] [EEU-E] For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 <.WIG20> Budapest BUX <.BUX> Prague PX50 <.PX50>

Keywords: TOBACCO CZECH PHILIPMORRIS