Imperial Brands recorded revenue of GBP 32.5 billion for its financial year to September and posted an adjusted operating profit of GBP 3.89 billion, according to a company press release.

According to the press release, Imperial Brands delivered an acceleration in adjusted operating profit growth in line with its five-year strategic plan. The company also improved its combustible tobacco performance with 10 basis points aggregate market share growth in top-five priority markets and strong, broad-based pricing gains. The next generation product net revenue was up 26 per cent (up 40 per cent in Europe) due to growth in all categories and operational and financial delivery was underpinned by new consumer capabilities, ways of working and cultural change, with employee engagement 100 basis points ahead of the global benchmark at 74 per cent. Another business highlight pointed out in the press release was enhanced shareholder returns with 4.0 per cent dividend increase as well as a 10 per cent increase in share buybacks; total FY24 returns of GBP 2.4 billion equivalent to c. 15 per cent of total market value.
“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,” said Stefan Bomhard, Chief Executive.