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MARKET REPORT: Vaping boom lights up Imperial Brands shares By HUGO DUNCAN Updated: 22:22, 19 November 2024 e-mail View comments Shares in Imperial Brands hit their highest level for more than five years as the tobacco giant behind the likes of Golden Virginia and Lambert & Butler cashed in on booming demand for vapes. The FTSE 100 group saw sales of so-called next generation products (NGPs) – including vapes, heated tobacco products and oral nicotine pouches – jump 26 per cent in the 12 months to September. By contrast, tobacco volumes were down 4 per cent, though this was offset by price hikes.
Overall sales were broadly flat, down just 0.2 per cent to £32.4billion, and the 4.
5 per cent rise in profits to £3.55billion was better-than-expected in the City. Vape boom: Imperial Brands saw sales of next generation products – including vapes, heated tobacco products and oral nicotine pouches – jump 26% in the 12 months to September A 4.
5 per cent increase in the dividend to 153.42p a share also lifted the mood. Shares rose 3.
1 per cent, or 74p, to 2475p, the highest level since April 2019. The company, known in the City as Imps, has expanded aggressively into new areas such as vapes with e-cigarette brand Blu among its next generation products. But it still makes the bulk of its sales from traditional cigarettes, including its John Player Special, Davidoff, Gauloises and Winston brands, and the NGP business clocked up annual losses of £79million.
Imps also owns Rizla rolling paper and Backwoods cigars. Derren Nathan, head of equity research at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said next generation products are ‘starting to become more meaningful’ for Imps but added that ‘for now it’s still a loss-making activity’. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next MIDAS SHARE TIPS: The rise (and fall) of Britain's biggest.
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.. Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account The FTSE 100 lost 0.
13 per cent, or 10.3 points, to 8099.02 and the FTSE 250 increased 0.
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Stock Watch -Revolution Beauty Cosmetics brand Revolution Beauty has swung to a first-half loss after sales slumped 20 per cent. The group losses of £10.9million for the six months to August 31 against profits of £400,000 a year earlier.
Sales fell by a fifth to £72.4million while the firm was also hit by a £10.2million write-off of old stock.
But Revolution Beauty insisted it was making ‘encouraging progress with existing and new retailers’. Shares fell 6.1 per cent, or 0.
84p, to 12.84p. In Europe, the stock market in Frankfurt fell 0.
7 per cent, Paris also dipped 0.7 per cent and Milan slid 1.3 per cent.
Benchmarks were also lower in New York with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 0.3 per cent. Back in London, British Airways owner IAG fell 2 per cent, or 4.
9p, to 239.7p after another IT meltdown forced it to cancel flights. Telecoms giant BT Group rose 3.
5 per cent, or 5.05p, to 149.8p after India’s Bharti Global became its largest shareholder with the completion of its acquisition of a 24.
5 per cent stake from telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi’s Altice. Technical products and services provider Diploma was the biggest blue-chip faller. The company, which distributes everything from wire and cabling to seals and medical devices for surgeries, posted a 14 per cent rise in annual revenues to £1.
36billion and a 20 per cent rise in profits to £285. But this missed City expectations and shares slumped 8 per cent, or 362p, to 4174p. Big Yellow Group was also on the slide, down 4.
9 per cent, or 56p, to 1098p, even after the self-storage firm posted a 3 per cent rise in half-year revenues to £103million and a 22 per cent jump in profits to £145.8million. Peel Hunt analysts did not help, cutting their target price on the stock to 1250p from 1275p.
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