Imperial banks on vaping

IMPERIAL Brands is ramping up its vaping business as it fights back against a decline in tobacco sales.

The cigarette company, which owns the Blu e-cigarette brand and Davidoff and Lambert & Butler cigarettes, is pressing ahead with e-vapour launches in a bid to capitalise on the growing market.

It is the latest tobacco firm to turn to smoking alternatives as demand for traditional cigarettes continues to fall. It sold 265.2bn cigarettes last year, a decline of 4.1pc.

Its full year sales nudged up from £7.2bn to £7.8bn after benefiting from the weak pound. However, sales were down 2.6pc. Profits came in at £1.9bn – up from £907m.

Despite falling tobacco sales Imperial stuck to its dividend policy, increasing it by 10pc for the ninth consecutive year to 170.7p per share.

Boss Alison Cooper defended the move saying: ‘Tobacco vol- ume has been in decline for a long time. We’re used to it.

‘We generate a huge amount of cash and are in a good place on the balance sheet to maintain that dividend.’

She added the firm is looking to capitalise on the popularity of Juul, a rival e-vapour product that has enjoyed huge success in the US.

It is currently producing its own version of the device, which has a higher nicotine hit than most vapours.