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Imperial Brands

ITB.DE
53
Tobacco · Consumer Defensive
Also trades as: IMBBY
Price
€29.42
-0.49 (-1.64%)
Market Cap
€22.46B
Exchange
Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Winston Score
53
Winston is curious
Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Mar 31, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Good
Growth
Mixed
Cash Flow
Strong
Stability
Mixed
Valuation
Exceptional
Dividends
Good

Share count falling — buybacks

12.3% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 947.5M (2021) → 830.6M (2025)

Winston Score History

The full picture

Imperial Brands is a British company that makes and sells tobacco products. Its main products include cigarettes, rolling tobacco, and cigars sold under brands like Winston, Davidoff, West, and Gauloises. It sells to adult smokers in more than 120 countries, making it one of the four largest tobacco companies in the world.

The company earns money by selling its tobacco products through retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Most of its revenue comes from Europe and the Americas, with a growing focus on next-generation products like heated tobacco and vaping devices under its blu brand. Its moat comes from strong brand loyalty and the addictive nature of nicotine, but the business faces a long-term risk as smoking rates decline in developed markets, putting pressure on the company to grow its non-combustible product sales fast enough to offset falling cigarette volumes.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+4.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

-38.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

R&D Spend

£0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (2%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

0.4%ownership

Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Runway

~8 months

£1.2B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Short runway — potential dilution ahead through share issuance

Cash watch

Imperial Brands has less than a year of cash at its current burn rate. Growth investors should watch for potential share dilution from future fundraising — that directly reduces your ownership.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
33.0%
Modest — 33.0% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
15.9%
Healthy — 15.9% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
23.4%
Exceptional — 23.4% return on capital

ROIC between 15% and 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns 15 to 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+75.8%
Fast-growing sales (+75.8% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
-29.1%
Earnings shrinking (-29.1% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
4/8 quarters
Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
179%
Turns 179% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
8.6%
Modest free cash flow (8.6%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
2.68
Heavy debt load (2.68)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
7.73x
Adequate interest coverage (7.7x)

Interest coverage between 3 and 8. Profits cover interest several times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
13.7x
Attractive valuation — P/E 13.7

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
+8.1
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (13.7 → 5.6)

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Dividends

Dividend
Dividend Yield
6.31%
Healthy income — 6.31% yield

Yield above 6% — often a flag the market is pricing in a cut.

Dividend record
Dividend Growth
-14.9%
Dividend cut (-14.9% YoY) — warning sign

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