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British tobacco company selling cigarettes (Davidoff, West, JPS) and vapour products (blu), smaller than BAT and Philip Morris.
British tobacco company selling cigarettes (Davidoff, West, JPS) and vapour products (blu), smaller than BAT and Philip Morris.
Sells cigarettes and rolling tobacco to wholesalers and retailers; falling smoker numbers are offset by regular price rises, and much of the shelf price goes to governments as excise duty. Profit is concentrated in a few mature markets such as the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Spain. Next-generation products remain a small side.
Moat: narrow (brand, distribution). Regional-leader cigarette brands in select markets, smaller scale than BAT, Philip Morris or Altria globally.
Headquarters: Bristol, UK · Founded: 1901 · Employees: 25,100
Size Imperial Brands (IMB.L) is a United Kingdom Consumer Staples company (Tobacco) with a market value of $29.9B, the 28th largest of 363 United Kingdom companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at £2,973 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 5.0%, against -7.9% for the median peer and +3.6% for the United Kingdom market (cap-weighted) — 6th highest of 14 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 4.7% over the last twelve months (peer median +1.2%); the operating margin is 19.1% (peer median 21.4%).
Valuation It trades at 8.9× forward earnings against a peer median of 16.4× (3rd cheapest of 13).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -9% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +3%, so the hurdle is -12 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 10.6 points above its cost of capital (6.9% WACC).
Credit Imperial Brands has 14 bonds outstanding ($12.1B), rated BBB by the agencies and trading like BBB+ at a weighted spread of 121 bp.
Next results Next results expected around 17 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £19.4B | £19.0B | £18.5B | £18.1B | £16.9B |
| Revenue growth | — | +3% | +2% | +7% | — |
| Gross profit | £6.68B | £6.63B | £6.43B | £6.29B | £5.65B |
| EBITDA | £4.37B | £4.40B | £4.21B | £4.08B | £4.07B |
| Net income | £1.74B | £2.07B | £2.61B | £2.33B | £1.57B |
| Free cash flow | £2.82B | £2.86B | £2.52B | £2.40B | £2.60B |
| Capital expenditure | £398M | £461M | £413M | £508M | £243M |
| Total debt | n/a | £10.00B | £9.08B | £9.73B | £10.3B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Brands IMB.L | $29.9B | +5% | +5% | 19% | 8.9× | -9.3% |
| British American Tobacco p.l.c BATS.L | $132B | -1% | +1% | 38% | 12.6× | 3.8% |
| Philip Morris International PM | $308B | +17% | +8% | 38% | 22.6× | -0.8% |
| Altria MO | $127B | +13% | +2% | 75% | 12.9× | -10.9% |
| Japan Tobacco 2914.T | $70.6B | +9% | +13% | 25% | 16.8× | -5.3% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | IMB.L | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +13.7% | +3.6% | 3rd highest of 14 |
| 6-month return | +5.0% | -7.9% | 6th highest of 14 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -11.0% | -31.8% | 5th highest of 14 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +4.7% | +1.2% | 6th highest of 14 |
| Operating margin | 19.1% | 21.4% | 6th lowest of 14 |
| Forward P/E | 8.9× | 16.4× | 3rd cheapest of 13 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -9.3% | 3.8% | 2nd least demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +2.7% | +5.7% | 4th lowest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -12.0 pp | -7.9 pp | 3rd least demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +10.6 pp | +5.4 pp | 6th highest of 14 |
| EV / EBITDA | 7.7× | 11.2× | 4th cheapest of 14 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.5× | 0.4× | 3rd most indebted of 14 |
| Bond spread | 121 bp | 88 bp | 2nd widest of 5 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Brands IMB.L | United Kingdom | $29.9B | +5% | +5% | 19% | 8.9× | -9.3% | +2.7% |
| ITC ITC.NS | India | $37.5B | -8% | -2% | 30% | 20.2× | 13.2% | +9.8% |
| KT&G 033780.KS | South Korea | $14.5B | +7% | +11% | 21% | 15.2× | -4.2% | +5.4% |
| Japan Tobacco 2914.T | Japan | $70.6B | +9% | +13% | 25% | 16.8× | -5.3% | +10.6% |
| Altria MO | United States | $127B | +13% | +2% | 75% | 12.9× | -10.9% | -0.7% |
| British American Tobacco p.l.c BATS.L | United Kingdom | $132B | -1% | +1% | 38% | 12.6× | 3.8% | -0.1% |
| Smoore International 6969.HK | Hong Kong | $6.61B | -19% | +25% | 7% | 32.3× | 28.7% | +6.6% |
| Godfrey Phillips India GODFRYPHLP.NS | India | $2.96B | -24% | +1% | 21% | 16.0× | 27.1% | +20.6% |
| Philip Morris International PM | United States | $308B | +17% | +8% | 38% | 22.6× | -0.8% | +7.2% |
| China Tobacco International (HK) 6055.HK | Hong Kong | $2.31B | -12% | -20% | 10% | 19.8× | 4.1% | +33.1% |
| Turning Point Brands TPB | United States | $1.32B | -29% | +20% | 17% | 71.8× | 11.0% | +2.7% |
| Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S STG.CO | Denmark | $890M | +10% | -4% | 14% | 7.6× | -9.1% | +2.4% |
| Miquel y Costas & Miquel MCM.MC | Spain | $434M | -29% | -4% | 15% | n/a | -7.7% | +2.7% |
| VST Industries VSTIND.NS | India | $349M | -25% | -2% | 22% | 8.7× | 9.5% | +5.7% |
Imperial Brands has 14 bonds outstanding with $12.1B face value. The agencies rate it BBB; its bonds trade like BBB+. Weighted yield 5.28%, a spread of 121 bp over government bonds.