By Najat Kantouar

Imperial Brands shares slid after Chief Executive Officer Stefan Bomhard outlined plans to retire following five years at the helm.

The London-listed tobacco manufacturer said Wednesday that Chief Financial Officer Lukas Paravicini would step up as CEO on Oct. 1. Meanwhile, Bombard will continue to serve on the company's board until Dec. 31 and be available until May 2026 to support the transition.

In early morning European trading, shares were down 7.5% at 2,670 pence. Year to date, shares have risen 4.7%.

While Bomhard's retirement is disappointing, this doesn't imply any change to the plans laid out at the company's recent investor event, Panmure Liberum analyst Rae Maile wrote in a note to clients. The transition will be seamless given Paravicini's skills, Maile added.

Paravicini, who has been CFO since May 2021, has been instrumental in driving consistent growth over the past four years and leads the long-term program to transform the company's tech and data capabilities, the company said.

Separately, the company--which houses Davidoff, Gauloises and JPS among its brands--reported a higher pretax profit and said it was on track to meet its fiscal year guidance. For the six months ended March 31, pretax profit was 1.30 billion pounds ($1.73 billion), compared with 1.14 billion pounds a year earlier.

Meanwhile, revenue fell to 14.60 billion pounds from 15.06 billion pounds, reflecting volume declines in high-excise markets and adverse foreign exchange.

Imperial Brands reiterated its fiscal 2025 guidance, which includes low-single-digit revenue growth for the tobacco segment. It still anticipates a double-digit rise for its next-generation products and adjusted operating profit to grow close to the mid-single-digit range.

Write to Najat Kantouar at najat.kantouar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 14, 2025 04:08 ET (08:08 GMT)

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