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(Alliance News) - Imperial Brands PLC on Thursday emphasised the benefits of its five-year strategy, as it expects to deliver full-year trading in line with expectations.
The Bristol-based tobacco company said that, on a constant currency basis and including Russia, tobacco and next-generation products net revenue grew by a low single-digit percentage in the financial year that ended September 30.
Meanwhile, adjusted operating profit growth is expected to have accelerated to the "lower end" of Imperial's mid-single digit range.
On Thursday, Imperial said tobacco net revenue growth improved in the second half of the year, as "continued strong pricing" helped to offset the relatively higher volume declines against historic averages.
Imperial had said in May that it was anticipating low single-digit constant currency tobacco net revenue growth.
Of next-generation products, Imperial said revenue growth accelerated in the second half of the year, driven by sales in Europe.
Further, Imperial on Thursday also announced a buyback of up to GBP1.1 billion shares, starting from Friday and running to September 2024. This represents a 10% increase on last year's GBP1 billion buyback, when the company repurchased 52.1 million shares, or 5.5%, of its share capital.
Full year results for the twelve months that ended September 30 will be announced on November 14.
By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter
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