Tobacco firm sees profits soar by more than a quarter

Profits rose by more than a quarter to £3.4bn at Bristol tobacco firm Imperial Brands.

The company said the sharp rise was largely due to the fact thar the impact of its exit from Russia in 2022 did not affect its trading figures this year.

The company added that revenue from next generation products were up 26 per cent as momentum grows in all categories. In Europe revenues rose by 40 per cent.
As a result revenues were £32bn a small decrease from last year.

Chief executive Stefan Bomhard said: “Three years into Imperial’s transformation, our investments in consumer capabilities, changes to the way we work, and a new performance culture are translating into stronger, more sustainable operational and financial outcomes.

“In combustible tobacco, improving brand equity and investment in our salesforce capabilities has led to the third consecutive year of stable or growing aggregate market share in the five priority markets which account for 70 per cent of our operating profit. At the same time, we have offset structural volume declines with strong pricing in all key markets.”

He added: “In next generation products, our challenger approach, which combines partnership-based innovation with disciplined market entry, is delivering positive results. We now have credible propositions across all categories – vape, heated tobacco and oral nicotine.

“Following recent launches, we now offer consumers potentially reduced-harm choices in more than 20 European markets, as well as the United States. This step-up in investment in Europe has driven an acceleration in net revenue growth.

“Underpinning this broad-based progress is our continued transformation, which includes new innovation hubs in Liverpool, Hamburg and Shenzhen, modernisation of legacy systems, and investments in upskilling our leaders.

“All of this means we are well placed to deliver on our commitment to enhance returns to investors, with increases to both our dividend and buyback programme. Looking ahead, we expect the continuing benefits of our transformation to enable a further acceleration in our adjusted operating profit growth in the final two years of our five-year strategy. We look forward to building on our growing operational track record to deliver sustainable returns to shareholders and play a positive, distinctive role in this industry’s transition to a healthier future.”