Imperial Brands PLC Stock on 2 December 2025: High Dividend, New Buyback and What Comes Next

Data and market prices as of the close on 2 December 2025.

Imperial Brands share price today: near record highs

Imperial Brands PLC (LON: IMB) finished trading on 2 December 2025 at 3,257p, up 20p on the day (+0.62%), valuing the FTSE 100 tobacco group at about £26.1 billion. ^[1]

The stock is trading very close to its 52‑week high of 3,279p, well above the 52‑week low of 2,521p. Over the last year the shares have returned roughly 26%, with a gain of about 15% over six months and more than 130% over five years, outpacing the wider UK market. ^[2]

Recent price action has been strong: on 26 November, Imperial hit a new 12‑month high around 3,277p after Jefferies raised its price target to 3,700p and reiterated a Buy rating, while the FTSE 100 advanced more modestly. ^[3]

With the share price near all‑time peaks and the latest full‑year results and capital‑return plans now in the market, investors are asking whether there is still upside left going into 2026.

FY25 results: modest reported growth, strong cash generation

Imperial’s 2025 financial year (to 30 September) marked the first full‑year results under new CEO Lukas Paravicini, and broadly delivered on guidance. Management described the year as one of “consistent delivery” and “strong foundations” for the next phase of strategy. ^[4]

Key numbers:

Revenue: £32.17 billion, down 0.7% on a reported basis. ^[5]
Tobacco & next‑generation products (NGP) net revenue: up 4.1% at constant currency, helped by price increases and stable or slightly rising market share in the five priority markets. ^[6]
NGP net revenue: up 13.7%, continuing a run of double‑digit growth. ^[7]
Adjusted operating profit: up 4.6% year on year. Reuters pegs adjusted operating income at £3.99 billion, slightly ahead of consensus and up from £3.91 billion. ^[8]
Adjusted EPS: up 9.1% to 315p (from 297p). ^[9]
Free cash flow: around £2.7 billion, underpinning dividends and buybacks. ^[10]

Revenue in traditional tobacco fell in volume terms (around 1.7% lower volumes), but this was more than offset by price/mix of +5.4%, leaving combustible tobacco net revenue higher overall. ^[11]

The market’s initial verdict was positive: Imperial’s shares rose roughly 2–3% on results day, with 2025 share price gains now in the mid‑20s percent and ahead of the FTSE 100’s rise over the same period. ^[12]

Dividends and buybacks: a double‑digit shareholder yield story

Equal quarterly dividends and a near‑5% cash yield

Imperial has remodelled its payout profile into four equal quarterly dividends from FY25 onwards. The board has: ^[13]

Paid three interim dividends of 40.08p per share (June, September and the upcoming 31 December 2025 payment).
Proposed a final dividend of 40.08p for payment on 31 March 2026, subject to shareholder approval.

That implies a total FY25 dividend of 160.32p, an increase of 4.5% versus the 153.42p distributed in FY24. ^[14]

At the 3,257p share price, the trailing dividend yield is about 4.9%, with dividend cover close to 2x earnings. ^[15]

Evergreen share buyback through 2030

Dividends are only half the capital‑return story. Imperial has leaned heavily on share repurchases:

A £1.25 billion buyback programme launched in October 2024 completed on 29 October 2025, contributing to about £10 billion returned to shareholders between FY21 and FY25 via dividends and buybacks. ^[16]
On 7 October 2025, the group announced a new “ongoing” share buyback programme, starting with £1.45 billion scheduled for FY26 and with the ambition of regular annual buybacks through 2030, in line with the broader five‑year capital markets plan. ^[17]

The new plan is already active. A regulatory filing shows that on 1 December 2025, the company repurchased 428,728 shares at an average price of 3,242.45p, for cancellation, under the £1.45 billion programme. ^[18]

Some sell‑side commentary has described Imperial as offering a “double‑digit shareholder yield”, combining a high single‑digit dividend yield at earlier share prices with an annual buyback that could retire roughly 6–7% of the share count per year. ^[19] After the 2025 share price rally, the cash yield is now closer to 5%, but the overall capital‑return profile remains unusually generous for a large‑cap consumer stock.

Next‑generation products: Zone, blu and Pulze drive faster growth

Imperial has historically lagged peers in reduced‑risk products, but FY25 marked another year of accelerating NGP progress. Independent coverage of the results highlights several themes: ^[20]

NGP net revenue up 13.7%, maintaining double‑digit growth for the fifth consecutive year.
Regional mix matters:
- Americas: NGP net income surged 69.8% to £70 million, making it the fastest‑growing region. ^[21]
- Europe: NGP net income grew 8.8% to £280 million, helped by tighter rules on disposable vapes pushing consumers towards refillable systems. ^[22]
- AAACE (Africa, Asia, Australasia, Central & Eastern Europe): NGP profits fell around 30% as Imperial exited some e‑cigarette markets, underlining that the NGP rollout is still uneven. ^[23]

Zone: building a foothold in US nicotine pouches

Imperial’s Zone modern oral nicotine brand is quickly becoming a central pillar of the NGP story:

Distributed in roughly 100,000 retail outlets in the US.
Around 2.8% share of the US modern oral nicotine market.
Launched with 11 flavours and two strengths (6mg and 9mg). ^[24]

The US pouch market is still dominated by Swedish Match’s ZYN and other incumbents, but Zone’s early progress suggests Imperial has at least secured a toehold in a structurally growing category.

blu vapour and Pulze heated tobacco

Beyond pouches:

The blu Kit vapour system is reported to hold double‑digit market share in the UK, France and Spain, benefiting from regulators clamping down on single‑use disposables and encouraging reusable pods. ^[25]
In heated tobacco, Imperial rolled out Pulze 3.0, an “all‑in‑one” device compatible with iD tobacco sticks and plant‑based iSenzia sticks, positioned as an affordable alternative to cigarettes. Early feedback from launches in Italy and Greece has been described as encouraging. ^[26]

NGP remains a relatively small portion of group profit, but the combination of rising revenue, shrinking losses and expanding distribution is a key plank in management’s argument that Imperial can sustain earnings growth even as cigarette volumes decline.

Leadership change: from Bomhard to Paravicini

2025 has also been a year of top‑table change:

In May, Imperial announced that CEO Stefan Bomhard would retire after five years in the role, during which the company strengthened its combustible franchise, stabilised market share in core markets and restarted consistent dividend growth. ^[27]
Long‑time CFO Lukas Paravicini became CEO on 1 October 2025, with former strategy chief Murray McGowan stepping up as CFO. ^[28]

At the March 2025 Capital Markets Day, the outgoing CEO and Paravicini together set out a 2030 plan targeting: ^[29]

3–5% annual growth in adjusted operating profit,
Low single‑digit revenue growth in tobacco plus double‑digit growth in NGP, and
Ongoing annual share buybacks through 2030, funded by up to £3 billion per year of free cash flow.

The FY25 results reaffirm that guidance for FY26: low single‑digit tobacco net revenue growth, double‑digit NGP growth, 3–5% adjusted operating profit growth, and at least £2.2 billion of free cash flow, with the CEO emphasising a dual focus on “sustainable value in combustibles” and “scale in NGP”. ^[30]

So far, the leadership transition looks evolutionary rather than revolutionary: Paravicini is building on the existing plan rather than ripping it up.

Balance sheet and funding: Imperial Brands Finance adds comfort

Imperial enters this new strategic phase with a deliberately conservative balance sheet:

Adjusted net debt sits at around 2.0x EBITDA, broadly in line with internal targets. TS2 Tech+1
The FY25 RNS and results slides show a well‑laddered bond portfolio with major maturities spread between 2026 and 2029. ^[31]

Subsidiary Imperial Brands Finance recently reported £685 million of profit for fiscal 2025, and confirmed that: ^[32]

The group maintains investment‑grade credit ratings, supporting access to global debt markets.
As of 30 September 2025, it held £3.32 billion of undrawn committed facilities.
In September, Imperial arranged a new €3 billion syndicated multicurrency facility maturing in March 2029, replacing an older, slightly larger facility.

For equity investors, the key takeaway is that Imperial’s debt profile is manageable, and refinancing risk over the next few years appears contained, which in turn supports the dividend and buyback commitments.

Valuation and analyst targets: cheap for a cash machine

At 3,257p, Imperial trades on: ^[33]

A trailing P/E of around 10–11x based on adjusted EPS of 315p.
Around 13x on reported EPS of 251.1p, which is lower due to one‑off items and tax.
A dividend yield close to 5%, with a five‑year history of low‑to‑mid single‑digit dividend growth.

On the sell‑side:

MarketBeat collates five analyst 12‑month price targets with an average of 3,562.5p, a high of 4,200p and a low of 2,700p. That implies roughly 9% upside from current levels, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating. ^[34]
A recent note flagged Jefferies’ new 3,700p target, while Panmure Gordon sits at the 4,200p top end of the range. ^[35]
TradingView and TipRanks show similar averages around 3,500–3,550p, again suggesting mid‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit upside. ^[36]

Fundamental research providers are becoming less cautious:

Morningstar recently upgraded Imperial Brands from Sell to Hold and raised its fair‑value estimate (exact numbers are behind a paywall), reflecting improved confidence in the sustainability of cash flows and capital returns. ^[37]
A Yahoo‑syndicated analysis noted that some fair‑value estimates have risen from roughly £33.20 to about £34.40 per share, modestly above the current price. ^[38]

At the same time, longer‑form commentary on MarketScreener and elsewhere stresses that Imperial remains “extraordinarily profitable”, but trades at a discount because the market still sees tobacco as a “melting ice cube” business facing long‑term volume decline and regulatory risk. ^[39]

Short‑term technical picture and the US ADR

For technically minded investors, the signals are mostly constructive:

On the London line, Imperial has delivered +2.4% over one week, +6.9% over one month and +25.9% over one year, according to Hargreaves Lansdown’s performance data. ^[40]

On the US OTC ADR (IMBBF):

StockInvest’s algorithmic model upgraded Imperial’s ADR to a “Buy candidate” on 1 December 2025, after the price rose 0.92% to $43.56. ^[41]
Their technical framework sees the stock trading near the top of a horizontal range, with a 90% probability of staying between roughly $39 and $44.50 over the next three months, and identifies nearby support around $43.40 and resistance around $43.70–44.50. ^[42]

These models are short‑term and volatility‑focused, but they broadly align with the fundamental picture: a stock that has already rerated, but is still trending upward as buybacks and dividends soak up supply.

Key risks that could derail the story

Despite the upbeat numbers, Imperial is not a low‑risk investment. Several structural headwinds remain front‑of‑mind in analyst coverage: MarketScreener India+3TS2 Tech+3Reuters+3

Regulation and taxation: Ongoing excise increases, flavour bans, disposable vape restrictions, plain packaging rules and potential future curbs on nicotine strength all threaten both cigarette volumes and the profitability of newer products.
Litigation: The global tobacco industry still faces lawsuits related to historical smoking harm, as well as emerging legal scrutiny of vaping and oral nicotine products.
ESG and investor sentiment: Many institutional investors exclude tobacco entirely, keeping valuation multiples lower than for other consumer‑staples companies despite similar or higher cash generation.
Structural volume decline in combustibles: Even with pricing power, there is a limit to how long higher prices can offset falling volumes in cigarettes and rolling tobacco.
Execution risk in NGP: Imperial is still a challenger in vapour, pouches and heated tobacco. Failure to scale Zone, blu and Pulze profitably would leave the group more exposed to secular decline in combustibles.

On top of that, FX swings and macro‑economic weakness in key geographies (notably the UK, continental Europe and the US) can dent reported earnings and free cash flow.

Bottom line: what Imperial Brands offers investors going into 2026

As of 2 December 2025, Imperial Brands sits at an interesting junction:

The share price is near record highs, yet the stock still trades on around 10x adjusted earnings with a near‑5% dividend yield and a large, visible buyback programme. ^[43]
FY25 results confirmed that management can deliver low‑single‑digit revenue growth and mid‑single‑digit profit growth, while NGP becomes a more material contributor and free cash flow remains robust. ^[44]
The new CEO is not ripping up the 2030 plan; instead, he is doubling down on the combination of stable combustibles, faster‑growing NGP and aggressive capital returns. ^[45]
Analyst targets cluster only modestly above the current price, suggesting expectations of mid‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit upside over 12 months rather than a dramatic rerating. ^[46]

For investors comfortable with the ethical and regulatory risks of tobacco, Imperial Brands in late 2025 continues to present a high cash‑return, moderate‑growth equity: a business whose investment case rests less on rapid expansion and more on harvesting significant cash flows and handing them back to shareholders.

For others, the combination of long‑term health concerns, tightening regulation and ESG pressure will outweigh the attractions of a double‑digit total shareholder yield.

Either way, the numbers now on the table make Imperial one of the most closely watched income stocks on the London market as the 2026 financial year gets underway.