DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5
A-Brands

Imperial Brands Beats Annual Adjusted Profit Estimates

By Dayeeta Das
Share this article
Imperial Brands Beats Annual Adjusted Profit Estimates

British tobacco firm Imperial Brands reported higher full-year revenue and better-than-expected adjusted profit, helped by market share gains.

The maker of Gauloises and Winston cigarettes reported revenue of £30.5 billion (€35 billion) for the full year ended 30 September, up from £30.2 billion (€34.6 billion).

Reported earnings per share fell 2.7%, to 143.6p, hurt by a write-off related to the bankruptcy of distributor Palmer & Harvey and foreign exchange rates.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings were 272.2p per share, topping analysts' average estimate of 269.3p, a company-supplied consensus showed.

Outlook

For the year ahead, Imperial said that it expects to deliver constant-currency revenue growth at or above the upper end of a 1%-4% growth range.

ADVERTISEMENT

It plans to increase investment in its e-cigarette brand Blu by around £100 million (€114.5 million) in the first half, which will result in a slightly lower adjusted operating profit in the half, which will be more than offset in the second half.

It expects its next-generation device business to begin contributing to group profit as it exits fiscal year 2019, with margins continuing to build thereafter.

It stood by its medium-term guidance for constant-currency earnings-per-share growth of 4% to 8%.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.