News
27 April 2010
Half Yearly results to 31 March 2010
| 6 months ended 31 March 2010 | Change | 6 months ended 31 March 2009 | Year ended 30 Sept 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Volumes* | ||||
| Cigarettes | 146.9 bn | -3.7% | 152.5 bn | 322.2 bn |
| Fine cut tobacco | 13,300 t | +9.5% | 12,150 t | 25,950 t |
| White stick equivalents | 166.1 bn | -2.1% | 169.7 bn | 358.8 bn |
| Financial Highlights – adjusted basis ** | ||||
| Tobacco net revenue | £3,389m | +4% | £3,252m | £6,818m |
| Logistics distribution fees | £480m | +3% | £467m | £964m |
| Adjusted operating profit | £1,452m | +6% | £1,369m | £2,933m |
| Adjusted profit before tax | £1,150m | +15% | £998m | £2,233m |
| Adjusted earnings per share | 83.2p | +16% | 71.8p | 161.8p |
| Financial Highlights – reported basis | ||||
| Revenue | £13,370m | +8% | £12,420m | £26,517m |
| Operating profit | £1,188m | +4% | £1,139m | £2,337m |
| Profit/(loss) before tax | £974m | £(184)m | £945m | |
| Basic earnings/(loss) per share | 68.0p | (14.7)p | 65.5p | |
| Diluted earnings/(loss) per share | 67.8p | (14.7)p | 65.3p | |
| Dividend per share | 24.3p | +16% | 21.0p | 73.0p |
- +16% adjusted earnings per share growth
- +4% tobacco net revenue growth
- +6% adjusted operating profit growth
- Growth in mature and emerging markets
- Gains from global cigarette brands Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes and West
- Fine cut tobacco volume growth +9.5%
Gareth Davis, Chief Executive said:
"In the first half of 2010 we again demonstrated the resilience of our business and the success of our enhanced sales strategy, achieving further gains with our strategic brands and delivering 16 per cent growth in adjusted earnings per share - an excellent performance in a challenging environment.
"We made gains with our global cigarette brands Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes and West, with particularly good results in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Central Europe. This was complemented by a strong performance from our portfolio of regional and local brands.
"We are focused on maintaining this growth momentum and are encouraged by the upward trend of our most recent cigarette shares in a number of mature and emerging markets.
"We also improved our fine cut tobacco volumes by 9.5 per cent, leveraging our portfolio to capitalise on consumer downtrading in the European Union.
"The versatility of our brand and product portfolio and our balanced operating platform will ensure that we maximise growth opportunities and continue to create sustainable value for our shareholders.
"As I approach retirement I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our employees and shareholders for making the last 13 years immensely enjoyable and rewarding. We have built an excellent management team and in Alison Cooper the Board has appointed a first class executive to lead the successful future development of the business."
Notes to Editors
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is a multi-national tobacco company, with international strength in cigarettes and world leadership in fine cut tobacco, cigars, rolling papers and tubes. The Group has 55 manufacturing sites and around 38,000 employees.
Investor Contacts
| Gerry Gallagher, Director of Investor Communications | +44 (0)7813 917 339 |
| John Nelson-Smith, Investor Relations Manager | +44 (0)7919 391 866 |
Media Contacts
| Alex Parsons, Head of Corporate Communications | +44 (0)7967 467 241 |
| Simon Evans, Group Press Officer | +44 (0)7967 467 684 |
