(Reuters) -Imperial Brands reported a nearly 5% rise in annual adjusted operating profit on Tuesday, narrowly beating consensus estimates, supported by higher prices of its tobacco products and growing demand for smoking alternatives.
The maker of Davidoff cigarettes and blu e-cigarettes has promised 3%-5% annual profit growth and a share buyback programme every year until 2030, as it builds scale in smoking alternatives under new CEO Lukas Paravicini, who replaced Stefan Bomhard in October.
Imperial, which also owns nicotine pouch brand Zone and heated tobacco device Pulze, said its adjusted operating income came in at 3.99 billion pounds ($5.25 billion) for the year ended September 30, compared with a consensus estimate of 3.98 billion pounds.
($1 = 0.7606 pounds)
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
