Imperial Brands PLC said Oct. 3 that CEO Alison Cooper and the board of the British tobacco company agreed that Cooper would step down from her post and from the board as soon as a successor is found.
Cooper joined the maker of Winston, John Player Special and Gauloises cigarettes in July 2007 as a director before she was appointed as CEO in May 2010.
As Imperial Brands undergoes its search for its next CEO, Cooper will continue to be involved in the company's asset divestment program, which is expected to result in up to £2 billion in proceeds by May 2020. "Alison has committed to continue to lead the business until a successor is appointed, ensuring an orderly transition of responsibilities," Imperial Brands Chairman Mark Williamson said in a statement.
The announcement of Cooper's impending departure comes a week after Imperial Brands cut its outlook for earnings and revenue for fiscal 2019 as U.S. regulators crack down on e-cigarettes and vaping. The U.S. is one of Imperial Brands' core markets for so-called next-generation products.
"The USA [next-generation products] environment has deteriorated considerably over the last quarter with increased regulatory uncertainty, including individual U.S. state actions. This has prompted a marked slowdown in the growth of the vapor category in recent weeks, with an increasing number of wholesalers and retailers not ordering or not allowing promotion of vaping products," Imperial Brands said Sept. 26.
Imperial Brands' next-generation products consist of vapor, heated tobacco and oral nicotine. The company produces its own line of vaping products under the Blu brand, which is available in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the U.S.
On Sept. 25, Altria Group Inc.-backed Juul Labs Inc., which has been under the microscope for months over its e-cigarettes, announced that CEO Kevin Burns had stepped down.
The U.S. crackdown on vaping has been a multi-agency approach, with federal prosecutors launching a criminal investigation into Juul, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accusing the company of marketing its products as less harmful than other tobacco products and the White House planning to ban all non-tobacco flavored vaping products.
The share prices of tobacco companies have fallen in recent years amid the challenging environment for their products. Imperial Brands' shares have halved in value in the past three years. In early trading in London on Oct. 3, Imperial Brands' shares were up 7 pence, or 0.4%, at 1,837 pence.
