Imperial Brands published its Interim Results for the six months ended 31 March 2021, saying that “tobacco net revenue continues to benefit from strong pricing”.

The UK-based tobacco company’s net revenue totalled GBP 15.568 billion (USD 21.97 billion), up 6.1 per cent. Adjusted operating profit increased 8.1 per cent to GBP 119 billion. Reported operating profit of GBP 1,637 million grew 77 per cent, driven by gains on disposal of the Premium Cigar Division.
Chief Executive Stefan Bomhard commented:
“We have made a good start in implementing our new strategy to transform Imperial and remain on track to meet full year expectations.
“In tobacco, we have put in place a clear market prioritisation to increase focus on our best opportunities for sustainable profit delivery. We have begun to stabilise the aggregate market share performance across our top five priority markets reflecting the changes we have made to tighten performance management and the good underlying momentum established over the past year. This is an encouraging start and one that I look forward to building on over time as we begin to step up investment in new strategic initiatives.
“Our NGP performance has improved, albeit against a weak comparator period. We have focused investment more tightly behind our NGP market strongholds and are on track to activate market trials in vapour and heated tobacco later this year. Our aim is to create a successful NGP business that meets consumer needs and, over time, can make a meaningful contribution to harm reduction.
“We have started to change our culture and ways of working, including developing a new market cluster structure to simplify the organisation and allocating resources more effectively. I have now assembled my new Executive Team with key external hires, who have the necessary skills and expertise to complement Imperial’s existing tobacco experience. This has significantly strengthened the capabilities we need to support the successful delivery of the new strategy.
“All of this has been achieved against the background of the ongoing global pandemic and I would like to thank employees throughout the business for their hard work and willingness to embrace change.”