- IMB trading in-line as profits supported by pricier tobacco
- Share price falls after Rishi Sunak's long-term policy announcement
Imperial Brands (IMB) revealed a £1.1bn share buyback programme for 2024, painting a picture of an industry in rude health a day after prime minister Rishi Sunak said he would bring forward plans to ban cigarette sales in England.
Sunak told the Conservative Party conference yesterday that a free vote would be offered in Parliament on phasing out the sale of cigarettes in England, arguing that "there is no safe level of smoking". If implemented, the policy would mean that the age at which someone can buy cigarettes would rise each year from 18. This would mean that a 14-year old today would never be able to buy a packet of Imperial Brands' Davidoff or British American Tobacco's (BATS) Lucky Strike cigarettes.