BAT revenues up as vaping product sales soar

British American Tobacco on Wednesday reported higher revenues driven by more people using its vaping products.

On a constant currency basis, adjusted revenue at the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes for the six months to June 30 rose 8.1% to £12.1bn, led by 41% growth in its new categories business, which includes vaping. Profits from operations rose 5.4% to £5.2bn.

New Categories revenue rose 50% to £942m and the company said customers using new products rose 2.6m to 16.1m during the half, with 11.8% of group revenue delivered by non-combustible products.

BAT also kept its full-year forecast for more than 5% sales growth on a constant currency basis.

On dividends, the company said it was committed to a 65% pay-out ratio and growth in sterling terms.

“Our rapid growth in new Categories is driving significant scale benefits and 2021 is shaping up to be a pivotal year in our journey towards a better tomorrow,” said chief executive Jack Bowles.

“There is great momentum across the business and we are well on track to meet our targets of £5 billion of new category revenue by 2025 and 50 million non-combustible product consumers by 2030.”