– Tobacco & NGP Net revenue up +4.1% on a constant FX basis to £8.32 billion (vs. +3% exp.)
– Adjusted Operating profit up +4.6% to £3.99 billion (vs. +4.3% exp.), Adjusting items: Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles (£369 million), discontinuation of Langenhagen operations (£101 million), 2030 Strategy implementation costs (£21 million)
– EPS up +9.1% to £3.15 (vs. £3.14 exp.) – driven by profit growth and share count reduction, offsetting higher tax, net finance and minority interest charges
– Strong tobacco pricing / mix (+5.4%) across all key markets partially offset by decline (-1.7%) in tobacco volume to 186.9 billion sticks (vs. 183.5 billion sticks exp.)
– Combustible – Top 5 Markets: Stable market share in five priority combustible markets (FY20-FY25: +48bps market share gain) while delivering strong pricing. Four out of five markets in share growth (all but the UK). Market share gain in Germany (+45 bps) driven by continued investment in brand equity and sales force. Stable share in the U.S. (-1 bps) reflecting continued investment in sales excellence and brand equity, and timing of competitor investments in deep discount segment. Share gain in Australia (+20 bps) by adapting to regulatory changes and focused investment. Share decline in the UK (-85bps) and Spain (-45bps)
– Combustible – Others: Good progress in broader geographies. Africa cluster now represents 8.9% of the tobacco net revenue
– Next Generation Products: NGP net revenue up 13.7% to £368 million. Double-digit growth driven by Europe and USA, which more than offsets decline in AAACE (Rest of the World). Market share growth in all three categories. Improved gross margins with adj. NGP losses reduced by 1.3% to £76 million despite the investment to support the continued rollout of Zone in the USA and new product launches. In FY20-25, cumulative NGP net revenue is up +83% and adjusted NGP operating losses is down -76%
– E-vapor: Positive share performance with blu in Europe as market transitions to reusable devices, with continued expansion of the pod-based blu kit range. Double-digit category share in UK, Spain and France. +160 bps share gain (universe: closed system in UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece)
– Heated tobacco: Positive consumer feedback to recent launch of Pulze 3.0 all-in-one device, for use with iD and iSenzia sticks. +60 bps share (universe: Czechia, Greece, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria)
– Modern Oral Nicotine: +130 bps share gain (universe: US, Sweden and Norway). Entry to the US modern oral category (February 2024) with targeted launch of Zone brand in metropolitan areas. Present in 100k stores. Reached 2.8% US national SoM (4% SoM in footprint)
– Distribution (Logista): Gross profit is up +2.9% driven by strong tobacco pricing and despite the weakness in long-distance transportation.
– Free cash flow of £2.7 billion (+£0.3 billion vs. FY24). Operating cash conversion: 97%. £11.6 billion cumulative free cash flow and £10 billion cumulative capital return over past five years. £1.45 billion share buyback program is underway for FY26
– Adjusted net debt: £8.4 billion (vs. £7.7 billion at the end of FY24); adjusted net debt to EBITDA at 2.0x (vs. 1.8x billion at the end of FY24)
FY26 Outlook:
– Low single-digit tobacco net revenue growth and double-digit NGP net revenue growth at constant currency
– 3% to 5% adjusted operating profit growth at constant FX (H2-weighted due to the phasing of combustible pricing and investment)
– At least £2.2 billion free cash flow
– At least a high-single digit EPS growth in FY26
– 2%-2.5% FX translation tailwind on revenue, operating profit and EPS at current rates
– – –
Ahead of the FY25 Earnings release
Release date: November 18, 2025 (before the LSE opening bell)
Latest guidance: On track to deliver low-single digit tobacco & NGP revenue growth. Adjusted operating profit growth close to the middle of the mid-single-digit range (c.5%). NGP revenue growth close to the mid-point of 12-14% range (c.13%). At least high-single-digit EPS growth. c.2.0 to 2.5% headwind to net revenue and c.2.5 to 3.0% headwind to adjusted operating profit and EPS (Pre-close Trading Update; October 7, 2025)
Latest consensus estimates:
| FY24 | FY25 | FY26 | ∆FY25 | ∆FY26 | ||
| Volume (Bn) | 190.0 | 183.5 | 176.4 | -3.4% | -3.9% | |
| Tobacco & NGP Revenue (£ Mn) | 8,157 | 8,201 | 8,368 | 0.5% (3.0%) | 2.0% (2.3%) | |
| NGP Revenue (£ Mn) | 329 | 368 | 426 | 11.8% (14.3%) | 15.8% (16.1%) | |
| Adj. Operating Profit (£ Mn) | 3,911 | 3,975 | 4,120 | 1.6% (4.3%) | 3.6% (3.9%) | |
| Adjusted EPS (p) | 297 | 314 | 344 | 5.6% (8.3%) | 9.6% (9.9%) | |
| Average number of shares in issue (Mn) | 869 | 823 | 781 | -5.3% | -5.1% |
