Imperial Brands increased its market share for cigarettes and other combustible products in three key markets.
In a brief statement to the stock market, Imperial Brands stated that it was "on track to meet full-year expectations" through increases in profit and revenue, but cautioned that sales of its next-generation products (NGP) fell in the first half of the year in the US.
The company expects revenue and operating profit to grow this year, despite remaining flat in the first half. The drop in its NGP US sales was due to “uncertainty” which came after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a marketing denial order for several of Imperial’s myblu vaping products last year. Nevertheless, Imperial expects NGP revenue to be ahead of the prior period, driven by strong growth in Europe which more than offsets the declines in the US market.
The company accelerated product and market launches across all NGP categories, including the roll out of its heated tobacco products, Pulze and iD, in seven European markets. It also introduced its blu 2.0 vape product in the UK, Spain, France, Czech Republic, and Portugal.
Imperial was able to increase its market share for cigarettes and other combustible products in the US, Spain, and Australia, three of its key markets, offsetting declines in the UK and Germany. Imperial’s market share has remained stable for two years running after several years of decline.
“Focused investment in our priority combustible markets continues to support the stabilization of market share,” the company said. “We are consolidating the strong gains achieved last year with aggregate share in our top-five markets at the half year expected to be at a similar level to the prior period.”