Logista: And Paste

“During fiscal year 2025, we recorded a positive growth in economic sales across main segments in both Iberia and Italy, with particularly strong performance in tobacco and pharma in these two regions. This growth was further supported by a robust profit on inventory recorded in all 3 regions. In ‘25, profit on inventory reached a significant EUR 45 million, up from EUR 35 million last year, following changes in tax and retail prices in all regions. This marks the third consecutive year in which we have recorded a substantial profit on inventory driven by tobacco pricing movements.” - Íñigo Amusco, Logista CEO, FY’25 Results

Having covered Imperial Brands’ full-year results, it is only appropriate to revisit Madrid-listed Logista, of which Imperial Brands holds a 50.01% stake. 2025 provided ample challenges, and the final quarter of the group’s fiscal year showed a continuation that essentially amounted to a copy-and-paste of the dynamics covered in my Q3 note:

Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty continue to be causes for weakness in transport. Tobacco and related product distribution in France continues to languish. Lower interest rates remain a meaningful blow to net financing. Logista’s Q3’25 showed that trends in all senses have been maintained. While there is little exuberance to be found, expectations are not dire, as, along with headwinds, positive undercurrents are sustained.

For the full year, France’s performance was weak, posting a -7% drop in economic sales and adjusted EBIT down a hearty -15% on the back of tobacco volumes declining 9%. While this could be easily extrapolated to paint a gloomy picture, the segment’s evolution is in no way a surprise, and as concluded in Q1, France is by far the smallest segment, and rather than dwell there, it makes far more sense to look at and distill the drivers throughout the rest of the business.