Price increases and some modest market share gains drove the positive bottom-line performance of tobacco giant Imperial Brands PLC (LSE:IMB) in the first half.
Both factors mitigated the impact of its departure from Russia and a dip in volumes.
Operating profits climbed 27% to £1.53bn on a reported basis for the six months ended 31 March 2023 with revenues static at £15.4bn.
Imperial said it is on course to hit its financial targets for the full year.
CEO Stefan Bomhard said: "The first half of the fiscal year 2023 showed business resilience, despite temporary volume decreases against a robust comparator."
Revenue from Imperial's next-generation products (vapes etc) rose 19.8% at constant currencies during the first half, thanks to product launches in Europe that compensated for US downturns.
Given the strong rise in earnings, investors might be forgiven for being a little surprised at the rather pedestrian growth in the dividend, which advanced just 1.5% to 43.18p.
That said, Imps is returning money in other ways and is on track to conclude a £1bn share buyback this year.