“We are now committed to an evergreen, always-on share buyback through the next 5-year strategic period. We would like to confirm we remain committed to our previous full-year guidance across all metrics. This step-up will be underpinned by combustible pricing already taken in this first half and improved operational gearing.” – Lukas Paravicini, Imperial Brands CFO, H1’25 Remarks
The reign of every great leader comes to an end. We knew that Imperial’s CEO, Stefan Bomhard, would retire eventually. It’s just that such an inevitability was expected to occur many years in the future. Naturally, his announcement came as a great surprise to many. Immediately, questions began to swirl about how his absence would affect the fate of Imperial Brands. Undoubtedly, his leadership has been integral to one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent history. However, believing that his absence will impair the company ignores the full extent of the change that has occurred at the company.
As highlighted by the Chair of Imperial’s Board, Thérèse Esperdy, in her opening H1’25 remarks, Bomhard rejuvenated the group’s executive leadership team, adding new, integral members, and took great efforts to enable internal talent. But it wasn’t just changing a few names and titles for optics. Imperial reorganized, placing contrasting but complementary skillsets across teams of all levels, sizes, and geographies. They honed in on the few true drivers of the business, identified core competencies, and cut away anything that wouldn’t move the needle.
I’ve previously talked about how Imperial Brands, labeling itself as the challenger of the industry, also challenges many of the preconceptions held by investors. Similarly, Stefan Bomhard challenges many assumptions, tropes, and stereotypes about CEOs. Like you would expect, he is charismatic, articulate, and driven. But, unlike so many others, he appears devoid of hubris. He has created a performance culture. While he is worthy of recognition, he has humbly and routinely made the point that the numerous teams under him have underpinned the strong financial performance. He will be leaving, but the systems that have allowed those teams to excel remain firmly in place.
Following Bomhard, Imperial’s CFO, Lukas Paravicini, will become CEO. Paravicini has also been instrumental in the turnaround, reshaping the group’s financial standing. Although numerous pressures weigh against the company, the same can be said of all majors. However, Imperial will continue to excel above all others in one specific regard. It wields plain language to convey its unwavering commitment to significant capital returns to shareholders, underpinned by an equally clear focus.
