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Imperial Brands PLC on Thursday said financial 2022 trading has been in line with expectations and announced a share buyback programme.
Shares were up 4.0% at 1,972.45 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
The Bristol, England-based tobacco firm announced a £1 billion share buyback programme, and said including dividends, annual capital returns are expected to exceed £2.3 billion. This is about 13% of its current market capitalisation, it noted.
Imperial Brands currently has a market capitalisation of about £18.7 billion.
Chief Executive Officer Stefan Bomhard said: ‘The launch of our new buyback programme is an important milestone in our five-year strategy announced in January 2021. Over the past two years, increased investment and a more consumer-centric approach have improved delivery in both our priority combustible markets and next generation product operations.’
It also said trading in its financial year ended September 30 was in line with expectations.
‘Targeted investment in our five largest combustible markets which account for around 70% of operating profit has driven an improvement in aggregate market share,’ Imperial said.
Looking ahead, it expects net revenue and adjusted operating profit to grow by around 1% in constant currency, in line with previous guidance.
In financial 2021, it reported pretax profit of £3.24 billion, with revenue of £32.79 billion.
Imperial Brands said annual results for the year ending on September 30 will be released on November 15.
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