Imperial Brands reported net revenue of £15.57 billion ($22.1 billion) in the six months ended March 31, 2021, up 6.1 percent over the net revenue it reported in the first half of 2020. Operating profit increased 77 percent to £1.64 billion. On an organic adjusted basis, Imperial Brands reported net revenue of £3.57 billion, up 2.4 percent from 2020. Adjusted operating profit was £1.59 billion compared with £1.46 billion in the first six months of 2020.
“We have made a good start in implementing our new strategy to transform Imperial and remain on track to meet full-year expectations,” said Imperial Brands CEO Stefan Bomhard in a statement.
“In tobacco, we have put in place a clear market prioritization to increase focus on our best opportunities for sustainable profit delivery. We have begun to stabilize 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.
We have made a good start in implementing our new strategy to transform Imperial and remain on track to meet full year expectations.
“Our NGP [next-generation products] 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 vapor 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 organization 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.”