Smokers sucking up price hikes to stay loyal to their favourite brands, and more Chinese smoking cigars, helped Imperial Tobacco post a surprise jump in revenues that sent its shares soaring today.
The maker of Lambert & Butler cigarettes saw a return to sales growth in the first three months of 2012 with revenues ahead by 8%. That acceleration saw its total revenues for the half year to April rise 3.3% to £3.4 billion.
Imperial’s biggest brands, Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, JPS and West, saw revenues grow 12%, while its luxury Cuban cigar revenues rose 8%, fuelled by growth in China, Russia and the Middle East.
Imperial, which sells more than 340 billion cigarettes a year, also benefited from the end of a price war in Spain. The half-year dividend rose nearly 13% to 31.7p a share.
Chief executive Alison Cooper — one of the few female FTSE 100 bosses — said: “We’ll continue to maximise the many growth opportunities that our unique portfolio offers to create further value for our shareholders.” The shares today rose 49p to 2513p.
