Imperial Brands 1st Half Profit Soared Amid Pandemic

By Matteo Castia

Imperial Brands PLC reported Tuesday a sharp rise in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2021, boosted by rising revenue from changing consumer habits amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The tobacco group --which houses Davidoff, Gauloises and JPS among its brands-- made a pretax profit of 2.06 billion pounds ($2.91 billion) for the six months ended March 31, compared with GBP785 million in the year-earlier period.

Revenue rose to GBP15.57 billion from GBP14.67 billion a year earlier.

Operating profit, one of the company's preferred metrics, jumped to GBP1.64 billion from GBP925 million the prior year, driven primarily by profit on disposal of the Premium Cigar Division worth GBP281 million and a reduction in amortization and impairment of acquired intangibles worth GBP225 million, the FTSE 100 company said.

The board declared an interim dividend of 42.12 pence, a 1% increase on the year in line with the group's progressive dividend policy.

Write to Matteo Castia at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 18, 2021 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)

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