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mperial Brands has said it is on track with targets after higher pricing helped to offset lower volume sales of traditional tobacco products.
The tobacco firm also announced a £1.1 billion share buy-back for its investors alongside the update on Thursday, in a welcome boost for shareholders after the Prime Minister announced a renewed crackdown on smoking a day earlier.
The Gauloises and John Player Special maker said it has witnessed constant currency growth in net revenues and adjusted operating profit growth as a result of price rises.
It also recorded revenue growth across all areas of its next generation products business, which includes vaping and heated tobacco products.
The company said it expects net revenue to grow in the “low single-digits”, with foreign exchange rates expected to have a 2% knock on both revenues and profits for the year.
It said its combustibles business, which covers traditional cigarettes and tobacco, has seen a decline in market share in the UK and Germany, but this was offset by improvements in the US, Spain and Australia.
The update comes a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Conservative Party conference that he plans to introduce a new law banning tobacco sales to anybody born on or after January 1 2009, and said he would clamp down on the use of disposable vapes.
Shares in Imperial, alongside other rivals, slipped in the aftermath of the announcement and the firm cautioned the Government over the plans.
Shortly after the Prime Minister’s speech, a spokesman for Imperial said: “We understand the Government’s desire for new tobacco control measures, because of the health risks associated with smoking.
“But, like any prohibition, the proposal to ban the legal sale of cigarettes over time threatens significant unintended consequences.
“On vaping, we will continue to engage with the Government to create effective policies which prevent youth access and build trust in the category as a potentially less risky alternative for existing adult smokers.”
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