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Tag: Imperial Brands

  • Imperial Encourages Retailers to Respond to UK Nicotine Survey

    Imperial Encourages Retailers to Respond to UK Nicotine Survey

    Imperial Brands is urging UK retailers to contribute to the government’s call for evidence on the proposed retail licensing scheme for nicotine products in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The consultation, launched by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), will close December 3.

    Andrew Malm, Imperial’s UK market manager, emphasized that the survey is a key opportunity for retailers to shape policy, ensure fair competition, and address challenges such as illicit sales and age verification compliance. The proposed licensing scheme aims to regulate the sale of tobacco and nicotine products, protecting both legitimate retailers and consumers.

    Retailers can participate by completing the online survey, providing their insights to influence the design and implementation of the new regulatory framework.

  • Imperial Launches THR Myth-Busting Series

    Imperial Launches THR Myth-Busting Series

    Imperial Brands Science launched a new educational video series to debunk common myths about nicotine, vaping, and other NGPs. The short videos address topics such as the “popcorn lung” myth, misconceptions about regulation and research, passive vaping versus passive smoking, and misunderstandings about nicotine itself.

    The series is in response to a new 2025 survey by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has found that misconceptions about vaping and next-generation products (NGPs) have reached record levels in Great Britain. According to the report, 63% of young people and 53% of adult smokers now wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful—or more harmful—than smoking. ASH noted that increased media focus on youth vaping may have contributed to this widespread misunderstanding.

    Imperial Brands said the initiative aims to improve public understanding of tobacco harm reduction and highlight the potential of NGPs as less harmful alternatives for adult smokers. “We want to ensure consumers have the right information and continue to challenge misconceptions through responsible education and communication,” the company said.

  • Harm Reduction is a Race Where Everyone Can Win

    Harm Reduction is a Race Where Everyone Can Win

    Deborah Binks-Moore, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Imperial Brands, delivered an optimistic yet pragmatic keynote at GTNF, urging governments, regulators, and industry leaders to work together to accelerate global harm reduction. Binks-Moore described the moment as an “inflection point” in the global effort to reduce smoking, noting that next-generation products have moved from niche to mainstream in only a few years.

    “Just a few years ago, next-generation products were a small part of the market. Now they are becoming mainstream,” she said. “Our journey to reduce smoking must place the consumer at the heart of everything we do.”

    She celebrated the rapid progress made by the industry but cautioned that success brings new challenges.

    “Our very success is now creating fresh challenges, which will require fresh thinking,” she said. Drawing parallels with other sectors in transition—such as energy—she encouraged policymakers to heed lessons from those industries: transformation succeeds only when science, regulation, and innovation align.

    “Tobacco harm reduction has the potential to prevent the premature deaths of many millions of lives over the long term,” she said. “This means we need an equally long-term approach to policymaking. We need people from different political traditions to work together. We need regulators to collaborate with responsible industry players. And we need central governments to partner closely with local administrations.”

    She called on policymakers in Brussels, WHO delegates, and regulators worldwide to develop “enforceable, sustainable frameworks” built on facts, science, and shared principles.

    Binks-Moore urged all stakeholders—policymakers, scientists, and business leaders alike—to begin with the individual consumer. “We need to understand and respect them for who they are, not who we wish them to be,” she said. “If we follow these principles, harm reduction is a race where everyone can win.”

  • Imperial on Track for Full-Year Guidance

    Imperial on Track for Full-Year Guidance

    Imperial Brands has issued a pre-close trading update for full-year 2025, according to a press release. This is the fifth and final year of the company’s 2021 strategy and its FY25 performance provides a strong foundation looking ahead to the next phase of the company’s strategy to 2030, according to a press release.

    At constant currency, Imperial is on track to deliver low single-digit tobacco and NGP net revenue growth for FY25, with group adjusted operating profit growth at a similar rate to last year, in line with guidance. NGP losses are expected to be broadly flat year on year.

    Adjusted operating cash conversion remains strong, and the company expects its full-year leverage to continue to be at the lower end of its 2.0 to 2.5 range for adjusted net debt to EBITDA.

    Taking dividends and buyback together, Imperial expects its capital returns to shareholders will exceed £2.7 billion in the coming fiscal year, representing around 11% of its current market capitalization. Over the past five years from FY21 to FY25, Imperial has delivered a cumulative c. £10 billion of capital returns to shareholders.

    Annual results for the year ended 30 September 2025 will be announced on 18 November 2025.

  • Luersman Joins Imperial Board

    Luersman Joins Imperial Board

    Abbe Luersman will join the Imperial Brands’ board as a nonexecutive director, effective January 12, 2026, according to a press release.

    Luersman, who is chief human resources officer of Walgreens Inc., has had a career as an HR leader in global listed businesses including Otis Worldwide Corporation, Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV, Unilever, and Whirlpool Corporation. She is also a nonexecutive director and remuneration committee chair at Just Eat Takeaway NV and co-chair of the Gartner CHRO Global Leadership Board.

    Thérèse Esperdy, chair of Imperial Brands, said, “On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Abbe to Imperial. Abbe has a proven track record in organizational design, integration and cultural change—both as a chief people officer and a nonexecutive director. She has transferred her skills across different sectors, including consumer goods, retail, manufacturing, and industrial technology. Abbe brings deep and wide-ranging experience in transformation programs, an area of strategic importance for Imperial Brands. The board will benefit greatly from her insights and experience, and we look forward to working with her.”

    Luersman will become a member of the Remuneration and the People, Governance and Sustainability Committees upon joining the board.

  • Imperial’s CEO, Bomhard, Retires

    Imperial’s CEO, Bomhard, Retires

    Imperial Brands announced today (May 14) that CEO Stefan Bomhard will retire after five years in the job. He will continue to serve on the company’s board until December 31 and be available until May 2026 to support the transition. Chief financial officer Lukas Paravicini will be promoted to CEO October 1.

    “While Bomhard’s retirement is disappointing, this doesn’t imply any change to the plans laid out at the company’s recent investor event,” Panmure Liberum analyst Rae Maile wrote. “The transition will be seamless given Paravicini’s skills.”

    Paravicini, CFO since May 2021, has been instrumental in driving consistent growth over the past four years and leads the long-term program to transform the company’s tech and data capabilities, the company said. Chief strategy and development officer, Murray McGowan, will replace Paravicini as CFO.

    With the news, Imperial’s shares dropped more than 7% as investors reacted to the unexpected loss of a leader credited with turning the company around. The company recently reported a 1.8% rise in first-half adjusted operating profit and reaffirmed its annual forecast after reporting market share growth in its five priority markets.

    “Prior to Bomhard’s arrival, Imperial had lost market share in its core tobacco business and failed to gain any real traction with new products like vapes, resulting in years of missed sales targets and a 2020 write-down,” Shashwat Awasthi and Emma Rumney wrote for Reuters. “Bomhard restored that market share, sales growth, and healthy investor returns by retreating to focus on traditional tobacco in Imperial’s key markets.

    “He also fine-tuned the company’s strategy on smoking alternatives – a portfolio which delivered double-digit growth in the first half of this year.”

    Paravicini told investors on an analysts’ call he was committed to Imperial’s five-year strategy set out in March and a capital allocation framework based around healthy returns for shareholders. Under that strategy, Paravicini is tasked with stepping up growth in smoking alternatives, where Imperial lags competitors, and compounding progress on tobacco in difficult markets like Germany, where Imperial has struggled to regain lost share amid stiff competition.

    Bomhard said he did not plan to take any other executive role and was retiring, and that his departure was “a very personal decision” related to freeing up personal time for himself and his family after 11 years leading large UK companies. He was previously CEO of car distributor and held senior roles at Unilever and Bacardi.

  • JTI and Others Close to Concluding Canadian Lawsuit

    JTI and Others Close to Concluding Canadian Lawsuit

    JTI-Macdonald Corp. (JTI-MC) announced that last week it, along with co-defendants Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITC), and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH), filed materials with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in joint support of plans to settle all pending tobacco-related claims in Canada, subject to proposed amendments being approved by the court.  

    The filings stem from a 2019 class-action lawsuit, where in October 2024 the court-appointed mediator proposed the three companies pay a total of 32.5 billion Canadian dollars to settle all litigation. In January, JTI-MC reached an agreement with the other co-defendants on the terms of allocation of payments that were then filed with the Ontario Superior Court Feb. 27, which now awaits court approval.

    As a result, JTI-MC intends to record a provision for litigation losses related to the payment of the settlement amount as an operating expense in fiscal year 2024, for an adjusting subsequent event.

  • Imperial Releases Full-Year Results

    Imperial Releases Full-Year Results

    Imperial Brands has released its full-year results for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024.

    The company’s net revenue was up 4.6 percent from tobacco and next-generation products. It saw aggregate market share gains in its five priority markets with four out of five markets in share growth.

    Next-generation product net revenue was up 26 percent with growth from all three regions and improved gross margins. Growth at Logista reflected strong tobacco pricing and benefits of prior-year acquisitions.

    Adjusted earnings per share were up 10.9 percent, driven by profit growth and share count reduction. Reported earnings per share were up 19.1 percent.

    The company saw a free cash flow of £2.4 billion.

    Capital returns of approximately £2.8 billion are underway for full-year 2025 with £1.25 billion buyback and full-year 2024 dividend up 4.5 percent.

    “As we enter the final year of our current strategy, the investment we have made in consumer capabilities, cultural transformation and agile ways of working has supported another year of accelerated financial delivery and growing capital returns,” said Stefan Bomhard, CEO. “These results demonstrate how we are fulfilling our role as an effective challenger for the industry, able to deliver consistently against operational and financial expectations.

    “In tobacco, investment in our brands and sales force initiatives have delivered aggregate market share gains across our five priority markets while delivering strong pricing. This was supported by an encouraging stabilization in German market share for the first time under our strategy.

    “In next-generation products (NGP), we continue to build scale across our footprint with net revenues up 26.4 percent at constant currency driven by growth from all three regions and market share growth in all three categories. Our partnership approach to product innovation has enabled us to launch new products across all three categories during the year. This included our successful entry to the fast-growing modern oral category in the U.S. with our brand Zone.

    “Our operational delivery coupled with consistently strong cash flow generation has supported enhanced shareholder returns with increases to both our ordinary dividend and share buyback. We are on track to deliver five-year capital returns of c. £10 billion, representing 67 percent of our market capitalization in January 2021 when we launched our strategy. We look forward to presenting the next phase of our strategy at a Capital Markets Day on 26 March 2025.”

  • Imperial Reports Trading In Line with Expectations

    Imperial Reports Trading In Line with Expectations

    Photo: Igor Golovnyev

    Imperial Brands reported trading in line with expectations for fiscal 2024.

    “We are pleased to report another year of operational and financial delivery against our five-year strategy to transform the business,” the company wrote on its website ahead of the Nov. 19 announcement of its annual results.

    “At constant currency, we are on track to deliver in line with our full-year guidance with an acceleration in tobacco and NGP [next-generation products] net revenue growth versus last year and group adjusted operating profit growth close to the middle of our mid-single digit range.

    “Constant currency tobacco and NGP net revenue growth has strengthened over the same period last year underpinned by strong combustibles pricing and further growth in our NGP business. Our investment activities in our five priority markets continue to deliver stable aggregate market share with gains in the U.S., Spain and Australia, broadly offsetting declines in Germany and the U.K.

    These results are consistent with our medium-term objective to hold or grow aggregate share across these markets. At the same time, we have delivered strong pricing, while industry volume pressures have eased across the majority of our wider market footprint.”

    Imperial Brands expects NGP net revenue to grow in the range of 20-30 percent at constant currency, with increases across all three regions as we build scale in our existing footprint. “Our results this year have benefited from the launch of innovative products with new formats under the Blu brand, new iSenzia non-tobacco heat sticks and new flavors in the modern oral segment,” the company wrote. “Our entry in the U.S. oral nicotine category with the launch of the Zone range of pouches has been well received and supported a stronger NGP performance in our U.S. business.”

    Imperial Brands’ constant currency group adjusted operating profit growth improved in the second half of the year driven by strong results across all three regions, including the group’s Africa, Asia, Australasia and Central & Eastern Europe region where shipment timings in the Middle East affecting the first half have now been resolved.

    “Our profit performance also reflects reduced NGP operating losses as we build scale while continuing to invest in line with our plans,” Imperial wrote. “Group adjusted operating profit has benefited from growth at Logista, the Spanish-based distribution business in which we have a 50.01 percent stake.”

    Along with its trading update, Imperial Brands announced a further £1.25 billion ($1.64 billion) share buyback, which it expects to complete before Oct. 29, 2025. This represents approximately 7 percent of the current share capital and is a 13.6 percent increase on the 2024 share buyback of £1.1 billion. The company says it  is on track to deliver total share buyback returns of £3.35 billion since we started the buyback program in 2022.

  • Imperial Sued Over Zone Trademark

    Imperial Sued Over Zone Trademark

    Photo: Olivier Le Moal

    2ONE Labs and Performance Plus Marketing have filed both a trademark infringement lawsuit and a preliminary injunction against Imperial Brand subsidiaries Zone nicotine pouch trademark.

    The suit alleges that Imperial’s Zone products willfully infringe the 2ONE nicotine pouch brand. In addition to seeking an award for damages, 2ONE is also seeking cancellation of Imperial’s Zone mark.

    According to the plaintiffs, the 2ONE brand has been continuously marketed and sold to adult consumers through thousands of U.S. convenience chain and independent grocery and smoke shop stores for the last five years.

    The suit alleges Imperial Brands made false statements by claiming a significantly earlier use of their mark in commerce than had occurred. The suit further alleges the false statements allowed Zone to be granted a fraudulent mark.

    “We have experienced numerous instances of consumer confusion since Imperial launched its Zone brand in 2024 and we intend to vigorously fight this type of blatant infringement, no matter how big the corporate bully,” said 2ONE Labs founder and partner Vincent Schuman in a statement.

    The case is before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.