Imperial ambitious on NGPs

Imperial Brands said today that it would be hosting a capital markets event in London this afternoon focused on the Group’s Next Generation Products (NGP) business.

The event coincides with the issuing today of a trading update.

‘Today’s event will provide insights into how we are executing against our NGP strategy,’ Imperial said in a note posted on its website. ‘At the heart of our strategy is a desire to create something better for the world’s smokers. We want smokers to switch to alternative products with lower health risks. We are enabling this transition by providing an outstanding vaping experience, endorsed by a trusted brand and underpinned by leading edge science.’

Imperial said the event’s presentations would set out the considerable potential NGP offered consumers and why this potential would be additive also for Imperial and its shareholders. ‘We will highlight how we are developing the pioneering brand blu with a compelling vaping proposition and a dynamic innovation pipeline to appeal to adult smokers,’ Imperial said. ‘Our omnichannel approach is building distribution strength across traditional retail outlets, vape stores and online, ensuring our products are available when and where smokers want to buy them.

‘The strong growth in sales of myblu, with an increasing rate of pod repurchase, reflects a really positive response from smokers, vapers and retailers across our current market footprint. Revenues have been gaining momentum this year, resulting in an annualised exit run-rate of around £0.3bn, positioning the Group well for accelerated growth in FY19 and beyond.

‘Our NGP ambitions are reflected in our management incentives to deliver compound annual revenue growth of 35-150 percent over the three years to FY20. The upper end of this range equates to NGP revenues of around £1.5 billion in FY20. We also have clear levers to drive profitability and expect the NGP business to begin to contribute to Group profit as we exit FY19, with margins continuing to build thereafter.’

Imperial said that it was announcing today plans to launch, Pulze, a heated tobacco product early next calendar year.

Presentation materials will be posted on Imperial’s website www.imperialbrands.com.