CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's leading cigarette maker Eastern Co posted a 17.1 percent increase in net profit in the year to June 30 on the back of stronger sales.

Eastern, which has a monopoly for producing cigarettes in the country of 86 million people, lifted sales by 13 percent to 6.2 billion Egyptian pounds ($867 million), though it now faces the challenge of a government-imposed increase in tax on cigarettes.

Egypt raised the sales tax on cigarettes by up to 120 percent this month as part of a series of measures to curb the budget deficit and reform the economy.

Eastern's full-year sales boost helped the company to reach net profit of 883.2 million pounds, up from 754.4 million pounds a year earlier.

($1 = 7.1500 Egyptian Pounds)