Imperial Brands expects higher first-half profit on strong tobacco pricing

(Reuters) -Imperial Brands said on Tuesday its profit for the first half of the year will be higher on the back of strong tobacco pricing and increased sales of its products such as disposable vapes.

The maker of Winston cigarettes and Backwoods cigars expects to meet its full-year expectations of growing net revenue and delivering a step up in adjusted operating profit growth.

Imperial Brands said last year it would increase prices in its key markets to offset declining volumes, while the company also faces regulatory pressures such as a potential UK ban on cigarette sales to younger people.

For the full-year, on a constant currency basis, tobacco and next generation product (NGP) like disposable vapes net revenue is expected to grow at a low single-digit percentage rate.

Analysts had expected total tobacco and NGP revenue to be about 8.1 billion pounds ($10.26 billion), according to company-provided estimates.

($1 = 0.7897 pounds)

(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)