Imperial Brands' new CFO to join on 1 May

Paravicini will take over as CFO from Oliver Tant on 19 May, the day after Imperial's first-half results. Tant will leave the board on the same day and will be available to help with a smooth handover until the end of June.

The maker of Davidoff and Winston cigarettes announced on 17 February that Paravicini would take over from Tant, who is leaving after seven years as CFO. Imperial hired Paravicini from ED&F Man Holdings, an agricultural commodities and brokerage company.

Paravicini's arrival will mark further change at the top of Imperial after Stefan Bomhard joined as chief executive in July. The company wrote down the value of its next-generation products such as vaping by £124m in 2020.

Before joining ED&F Man, Paravicini had senior jobs at Fonterra, a New Zealand and Australia listed co-operative and the world's largest dairy exporter. He was CFO from 2013 to 2017 and chief operating officer of the global consumer and foodservice business from 2017 to 2018.

Imperial said on 30 March it had a good start to the year and was on track to match guidance issued to shareholders. Bohmhard has shifted the company's strategy back to selling cigarettes after the vapour business expanded too quickly, he said.