Imperial Brands has released its half year results, saying its strategy is “on track to deliver accelerating returns”.

Sales of Imperial’s NGP brands, which include Pulze and blu, were up 19.8 per cent, Imperial said in a statement. Its adjusted operating profit was up 0.8 per cent to GBP 1.534 billion on a revenue rise of 0.3 per cent to GBP 15.41 billion pounds for the six months ended on 31 March. Tobacco volumes were down 12.7 per cent driven by its exit from Russia and the unwind of COVID restrictions on buying patterns.
Chief Executive Stefan Bomhard said: “We are now in the third year of our five-year strategy, and this means we are moving from the initial foundationbuilding phase to a period of improving financial delivery. We remain strongly committed to an ongoing programme of shareholder returns and will complete our initial GBP 1 billion buyback during the second half. Business performance for the first half of fiscal year 2023 was resilient, despite temporarily increased volume declines against a strong comparator. As expected, this reflects a return to pre-COVID buying patterns as well as our decision to exit Russia last year. (…) Earlier this month we opened a new innovation facility in Liverpool, which brings together consumers, product developers and third-party partners in a single collaborative space. We are making good progress in our programmes to modernise legacy systems, and we continue to invest in upskilling our leaders to drive forward our performance culture. We remain on track to deliver the acceleration in adjusted operating profit growth in the second half in line with our guidance and expectations. I am confident the actions we have taken are creating a stronger, more resilient business capable of driving shareholder returns through a growing dividend and an ongoing share buyback.”