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Imperial BrandsAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 5391I  Imperial Brands PLC  14 May 2025

IMPERIAL BRANDS PLC

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) No. 549300DFVPOB67JL3A42

14 May 2025

Stefan Bomhard to retire as Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Brands PLC and
be succeeded by Lukas Paravicini

Imperial Brands today announces that Stefan Bomhard has informed the Board he
wishes to retire as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He will be succeeded as CEO
by Lukas Paravicini, currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Imperial
Brands, on 1 October 2025.  Stefan will continue to serve on the Imperial
Brands Board until 31 December 2025 and be available until May 2026 to support
Lukas with the transition. Murray McGowan, currently Imperial Brands' Chief
Strategy and Development Officer, will succeed Lukas as CFO and become a
member of the Board on 1 October 2025.

Stefan will leave Imperial Brands after five years as CEO, during which time
the business has strengthened its tobacco operations, built a refreshed
platform for next-generation products, and delivered significant returns to
shareholders.

Lukas, who has been CFO since May 2021, has been instrumental in driving
Imperial Brands' consistent growth over the past four years and leads the
long-term programme to transform the company's tech and data capabilities.
Before joining Imperial, Lukas served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief
Financial Officer for Fonterra, and had a 22-year career in Nestlé, where he
worked across diverse consumer categories and regions.

Murray, who joined Imperial Brands in July 2020, led the development of both
the company's current successful strategy and the refreshed 2030 plan unveiled
in March.  Previously, he worked in financial and operational leadership
roles for consumer businesses, including Costa Coffee, Yum! Brands and
Cadbury, having begun his career in the consumer and retail practice of
McKinsey & Company.

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. The management team's
focus on consumer capabilities, agile ways of working and a performance
culture has led both to a successful turn-around in our tobacco business and a
strengthened platform in next generation products.

"Today's appointments follow a rigorous selection process and demonstrate our
deep management bench strength. Lukas and Murray have both played key roles in
Imperial Brands' growing success over the past four years and were important
architects of our recently unveiled 2030 strategy. Under their executive
leadership, I am confident we will continue to deliver for shareholders while
moving purposefully towards a healthier future."

Stefan Bomhard said: "With the team now preparing to implement our 2030
strategy, it feels like an appropriate time to hand on the baton to Lukas and
Murray. In the coming months, I look forward to supporting them as they
transition into their new roles. I would like to thank all the people of
Imperial Brands. The strengthening of our business has been very much a team
effort."

Lukas Paravicini said: "I am excited to be working with our excellent team to
build on our growing track record of growth. As we deliver on the next stage
of our strategy, Imperial Brands will continue to play its distinctive role as
the strong challenger business in our industry. By getting even closer to our
consumers, staying focused and investing to be more agile, we will deliver
sustainable growth in tobacco and profitable scale in next generation
products."

Murray McGowan said: "We have made strong progress under the current strategy,
and I am looking forward to collaborating with our colleagues to continue
delivering for all our stakeholders."

The Board has agreed that Thérèse Esperdy, who joined as a Non-Executive
Director in 2016 and was appointed Chair in 2020, will continue to serve as
Chair to provide continuity while Lukas and Murray establish themselves in
their new roles.

 

Investor Contacts
 
Media Contacts

Peter Durman       +44 (0)7970 328
903                         Jonathan Oliver +44
(0)7740 096 018

Jennifer Ramsey +44 (0)7974 615 739
                Simon Evans        +44 (0)7967 467 684

Henry Dodd +44 (0)7941 648 421

 

There are no other matters that require disclosure under UK Listing Rule 6.4.8
in relation to the appointment of Lukas or Murray. This release contains
inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation.

The person responsible for making this announcement on behalf of Imperial
Brands PLC is Emily Carey, Group Company Secretary.

 

Supplementary Information

About Stefan

Stefan joined Imperial Brands from Inchcape plc, a global distribution and
retail leader in the premium and luxury automotive sectors, where he delivered
successful transformational change during a five-year tenure as chief
executive. Prior to Inchcape, Stefan was president of Bacardi Limited's
European region. Previous roles have included chief commercial officer of
Cadbury plc and chief operating officer of Unilever Food Solutions Europe.
This followed senior management and sales and marketing positions at Diageo
(Burger King) and Procter & Gamble. Stefan joined Imperial Brands as CEO
in July 2020.

About Lukas

Lukas has a proven track record in multinational consumer goods companies
around the world. He joined Imperial Brands from agricultural commodities and
brokerage group ED&F Man Holdings, where he was chief financial officer.
He has also held senior positions at Fonterra, a New Zealand and Australia
listed co-operative and the world's largest dairy exporter, with sales in 130
countries. He was chief financial officer from 2013-2017 and chief operating
officer, Global Consumer and Foodservice Business from 2017-2018. Prior to
that, he spent 22 years with Nestlé in senior international finance and
general management roles. Lukas joined Imperial Brands as CFO in May 2021.

About Murray

Murray joined Imperial in 2020 and currently leads Strategy and Corporate
Development. Murray led the work to define both Imperial's 2025 strategy and
the recently launched 2030 strategy. Murray has also served as a Non-Executive
Director for Logista since 2021. Prior to Imperial Brands, Murray worked
internationally for leading consumer companies across finance, operational and
commercial roles, including as Managing Director for Costa Express,
International Finance and Strategy Director for Costa Coffee, CFO for KFC UK
& Ireland (Yum! Brands) and Global Commercial Strategy Director for
Cadbury. Murray began his career at McKinsey & Company, where he focused
on global consumer and retail clients.

 

Remuneration

The remuneration packages for Lukas and Murray will be structured in line with
the Company's existing Remuneration Policy, as approved by shareholders at the
2024 Annual General Meeting. Further information will be provided in the 2025
Directors' Remuneration Report. On their appointments, Lukas' annual salary
will be £1,400,000 and Murray's annual salary will be £775,000.

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