Altria Group stock gets smoked, but there’s a silver lining Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) said it remained on track to meet its full-year targets after reporting first-half growth in tobacco and next-generation products net revenue, while management highlighted one-off headwinds in…
e U.S. and Australia and continued progress on its Evolve 2030 strategy. Chief Executive Lukas Paravicini said the first six months of fiscal 2026 also marked the first six months of the company’s Evolve 2030 strategy
He said Imperial’s “consistent financial performance” continued to support growth in net revenue and adjusted operating profit, with free cash flow of GBP 2.6 billion generated over the past 12 months. The company announced a 4% increase in its ordinary dividend and said it was on track with its GBP 1.45 billion share buyback. Paravicini said Imperial was targeting “at least high single-digit growth in EPS” for the full year.
Pricing Offsets Volume Declines in Tobacco Chief Financial Officer Murray McGowan said the first half was a period of “broad-based growth,” with tobacco net revenue supported by pricing that more than offset volume declines. Group adjusted operating profit rose 0.6%, reflecting growth in the tobacco business and NGP, partly offset by headwinds at Logista and one-off factors in the U.S. and Australia. McGowan said tobacco operating profit growth was driven by Europe, which grew 6.5%, and by the Africa, Asia and Central & Eastern Europe region, excluding Australia, which grew 10.8%.