Imperial Brands takes Russia hit

THE tobacco company behind Golden Virginia and Rizla reported a big drop in profit as it took a hit from leaving Russia.

Imperial Brands said that the exit took a £225m chunk out of its pre-tax profit, helping to push it down by 39% to less than £1.3bn in the first six months of the financial year.

Revenue dipped 1.3% to £15.4bn. “In April, we delivered on our earlier commitment to exit Russia, with the orderly transfer of our business to local investors,” said chief executive Stefan Bomhard.