Imperial Brands Pulls Vaping Business From U.S. — Update

By Aimee Look

Imperial Brands said it would pull its vaping business out of the U.S., citing a drawn-out regulatory approval process.

"[Given] the protracted regulatory process to approve new innovations, we have taken the decision to transition our legacy myblu vaping business out of the U.S. market," the U.K. tobacco company said in its fiscal half-year results Tuesday.

The London-listed tobacco company said it is instead leaning into its modern oral brands in the U.S., such as Zone--a move which it said was complemented by the rollout of new flavors. The company said net revenue for the region was lower on year due to one-off promotional activity for its Zone modern oral product.

Imperial said its overall revenue rose to 14.72 billion pounds ($20.04 billion) in the six months ended March 31 from 14.60 billion pounds in the same period the year prior.

Net revenue for next-generation products--which include vapes and oral pouches--grew 7.5%, as double-digit growth in multiple markets offset the decline in sales in the U.S. Revenue for the category halved in the Americas region, to 12 million pounds.

The White House has been trying to pressure the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary to approve more vape flavors, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. President Trump has signed off on a plan to fire Makary after clashes over vaping, abortion and drug policy, the Journal reported.

Imperial Brands, which houses Davidoff, Gauloises and JPS among its brands, reported pretax profit fell to 791 million pounds compared with 1.30 billion pounds a year prior.

Administrative and other expenses more than doubled on a review of its 2030 strategy and settlements of legal cases. The metric rose to 1.04 billion pounds from 476 million pounds the year prior.

Adjusted operating profit, which excludes exceptional and one-off items, fell 0.5% to 1.64 billion pounds for the first half. Analysts expected 1.66 billion pounds in adjusted operating profit, according to estimates compiled by the company.

Write to Aimee Look at aimee.look@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2026 06:05 ET (10:05 GMT)