Despite oil companies proving a drag on the market, leading shares are managing to make a little headway.
Imperial Tobacco is among the main risers, up 79p to £27.46. The cigarette maker saw a decline in full year revenues and profits, hit by exchange rates and declining sales as people cut back or quit smoking. But it has tackled this with cost cuts, saving £60m during the year, and the figures were in line with expectations. Tobacco revenues fell 6% to £6.5bn and adjusted operating profit was down 5% to £3bn.
It also said it was lifting its full year dividend by 10%. During the year it raised £395m with the partial IPO of its Logista business in Europe, with the proceeds going to reduce debt. A deal with Lorillard and Reynolds to boost its US presence should be completed next spring, and it also sees big opportunities in emerging markets.
via The Guardian
Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.