(Reuters) – Imperial Brands fell short of estimates for first-half profit and sales on Tuesday, hurt by lower retailer demand for cigarettes in the United States, though the tobacco company reiterated its full-year outlook.
The maker of Gauloises Blondes and Winston cigarettes reported first-half organic adjusted revenue of 3.57 billion pounds ($5.06 billion), while analysts had forecasted 4.02 billion pounds, according to Refinitiv data.
The company attributed the weak performance to “lower U.S. trade inventories” coupled with a drop in travel retail sales due to the pandemic.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at 107 pence for the reported period, missing analysts’ forecast of 107.7 pence.
Imperial, however, kept its full-year forecast intact, which calls for low- to mid-single digit organic adjusted operating profit growth at constant currency.
($1 = 0.7055 pounds)
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
