Imperial Brands FY profit falls after hit from Russia

The maker of Gauloises cigarettes said operating profit for the year to September 30 fell 14.7% to £2.68bn as revenues slipped 0.7% £32.5bn on currency volatility .

Tobacco revenues rose 1.3% to £7.59bn and next generation products such as vapes rose a 10.8% to £208m. Reported pre-tax profits fell to £2.6bn from £3.2bn the previous year.

Chief executive Stefan Bomhard said acceleration profit growth next year would be driven by “pricing and operational gearing, improved geographic mix from our priority market focus and cost savings, partially offset by cost inflation and increased next generation product (NGP) investment”.

“Performance will be weighted to the second half of the year due to the phasing of NGP investment, the impact of our exit from Russia in April 2022, and the continued unwind of COVID-19 that will all affect the first half.”

“As a result, the first half adjusted operating profit is expected to be at a similar level to last year, at constant currency.”

The group said it was well placed to cope with wider economic headwinds in the UK and worldwide and that growth in underlying earnings should rise within a “mid-single digit” range over the next three years.

Imperial added that it expected a boost from the weakness of the pound, which would see it benefit from exchange rates on its international earnings, with foreign exchange movements expected to flatter sales and earnings by 5-6% over the year ahead.

The dividend payout was lifted by 1.5% to 141.7p a share in a further boost to investors after it last month announced the launch of its share buyback programme. It will buy back up to £1bn of shares until the end of September next year, bringing total capital returns over 2022-23 to more than £2.3bn.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com