British American Tobacco H1 group revenues fall, smokeless revenue rises

Tobacco group British American Tobacco said on Thursday that smokeless revenues had grown in H1 but stated overall revenues had fallen as a result of the divestment of its Russian and Belarusian business and FX headwinds.

British American Tobacco said total revenues were down 8.2% at £12.34bn on a reported basis, while organic revenues were down 0.8% at constant currency rates, mainly due to its investment in US commercial actions and the negative impact of wholesaler inventory movements.

Reported profits from operations sunk 28.3% to £4.25bn, driven by higher amortisation charges related to its US combustibles brands and its exit from the Russian and Belarusian markets.

However, revenue from smokeless products grew 1.4% to make up 17.9% of group revenues. BAT's new categories contribution also increased, up by £165.0m on an organic, constant currency basis.

Reported diluted earnings per share were 13.8% higher at 200.3p.

As of 0930 BST, BAT shares were up 2.52% at 2,641.00p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com