London, June 22, 2026, 15:13 BST
- Imperial traded near 2,740 pence, lagging the FTSE 100. The index was up close to 0.6%, according to delayed data.
- The company bought back 320,000 shares Friday, about 9.5% of the LSE on-book volume for the day, at a cost just under £8.8 million.
- Two smaller iSTOXX stocks joined the index on Monday. That could give them a quick boost from flows, but traders say earnings in the second half are still in focus.
Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB) held steady around 2,740 pence in London on Monday. Shares showed little reaction to earnings, trailing the broader market. Corporate and index flows in the name were also muted.
Imperial bought 320,000 shares on Friday for cancellation, paying an average of 2,740.4777 pence each, the company said in a buyback notice. That’s about 9.5% of the LSE’s 3.365 million on-book volume for the session. Total spend came to roughly £8.77 million. The outstanding share count dropped to 770.817 million.
Imperial’s buyback is taking out market sellers and cutting the float, boosting earnings per share. Adjusted EPS rose 5.3% for the first half on a constant currency measure, while adjusted operating profit increased just 0.6%. So, 4.7 points of that per-share gain are from buybacks, not from stronger business results. CEO Lukas Paravicini said the company remains “on track with our £1.45bn share buy back.” Imperial Brands Corporate Site
Imperial will be added to the iSTOXX Global Diversity Impact Select and iSTOXX Global Women Leadership Select indexes, STOXX said Monday. Both indexes have 30 members. The inclusion comes as part of regular index rebalancing, effective June 22. These reshuffles usually drive passive flows as related funds and products realign portfolios to track the updates.
Index tracking is unlikely to have a big effect here. Both indexes hold a lot of dividend payers and low-volatility stocks, but there’s no clear figure on money that tracks them. Changes at the reshuffle are expected to draw only a small flow. Imperial’s buyback remains the main support.
Imperial Brands analysts expect 2.2% revenue growth in tobacco and next-gen for fiscal 2026, with consensus from June 11. Adjusted operating profit forecast is up 3.1%, and adjusted EPS is set at 333.7 pence. First-half operating profit rose only 0.6%. So, eyes are on the second half, where estimates call for a bigger rebound.
Morningstar’s Kristoffer Inton kept his £33 fair value on the stock after the half-year numbers, calling shares “moderately undervalued.” Inton pointed out next-generation products made up just 5% of revenue, not counting distribution, and that’s behind rivals. He said stepping back from Zone nicotine pouch ads and leaving the US vaping business should boost margins later this year. Morningstar
Imperial is paying $150 million upfront to buy Black Buffalo in a move to bolster its US oral-nicotine lineup. The deal, revealed in May, gives Imperial a product it lacked. CEO Paravicini described Black Buffalo as a “strong, challenger brand” and said bringing it in fits Imperial’s growth play. AJ Bell
Operational risk is still here. Imperial dropped 16 basis points of market share from its top five markets in the first half, with each basis point equal to one-hundredth of a percent. The company chased profit and gave up volume. In US nicotine pouches, British American Tobacco’s Velo grabbed share from Philip Morris’s Zyn and Altria’s On!. Paravicini said further Middle East trouble could push input costs higher. He said Imperial would “implement mitigating actions.” Reuters
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said in April the shareholder-return program should “continue to underpin the share price.” Monday’s flow numbers support that view. But just underpinning isn’t enough to move the price up. Buybacks and small index flows give Imperial some support. A bigger jump in the shares still needs profit growth and rising EPS. Interactive Investor
