The chief executive of Imperial Brands is set to retire after a five-year stint leading the London-listed tobacco behemoth.
Stefan Bomhard, who joined the Bristol-headquartered firm in July 2020, will relinquish his CEO role in October this year, but will continue to serve on the company's board until the end of 2025.
The German executive, formerly at the helm of distribution business Inchcape, will be succeeded by Lukas Paravicini, the current CFO of the company.
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Thérèse Esperdy, chair of Imperial Brands, said: "Under Stefan's leadership, Imperial Brands has delivered consistent growth and outstanding returns for shareholders.
"One of Stefan's many great achievements was the way he comprehensively refreshed our executive leadership, making strong hires from other consumer businesses and nurturing internal talent," as reported by .
Bomhard's tenure as Imperial's CEO has been widely lauded by the company's shareholders, during which time the Bristol-based firm's stock has surged by over 60% despite the long-term decrease in demand for cigarettes.
However, shares in the FTSE 100 company dipped as much as 8% following the announcement of Bomhard's departure.
Analysts at Panmure Liberum said: "There is no doubting the disappointment in Stefan Bomhard announcing his retirement from Imperial after an exceptional five year run as CEO.
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"Stepping up to CEO, Lukas Paravicini is in no way second best. We have seen consistently that Lukas has considerable skills beyond being CFO and the promotion is well deserved."
Imperial Brands, the owner of Rizla, Golden Virginia and Winston brands, has reported a dip in sales for the six months leading up to the end of March.
The company's revenues for this period fell by 3.1% to £14.6bn, with price increases unable to fully counterbalance the sharper decline in tobacco volumes.
Despite the challenging economic climate, Imperial Brands stated that its earnings per share rose by 0.7% and it anticipates its full-year results to align with expectations.
Panmure analyst Rae Maile said: "Results are "in-line" on pretty much every line, and certainly close enough that no-one should have delusions of modelling accuracy.
"The company had guided that profit performance this year was going to be weighted towards H2 and while for many companies that is often on a wing and a prayer, in Imperial's case the track record for setting and delivering against guidance is lengthening."
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