British American Tobacco (BAT) made a profit in 2024 compared with the previous year's loss, thanks to the gradual phase-out of its smokeless products and benefits from investments in the United States related to reduced wholesaler inventory movements.
Dividend growth for the year to Dec. 31 was 2 percent to 240.24 pence, with a £900 million (20.79 billion rand) share buyback planned in 2025.
Operating profit was 2.74 billion pounds compared to a loss of 15.75 billion pounds in 2023, with 2024 including a provision of 6.2 billion pounds for a proposed settlement in Canada, while 2023 was negatively impacted by one-time write-downs largely in the United States.
Revenues decreased 5.2 percent, due to the sale of the group's assets in Russia and Belarus in September 2023 and translational foreign exchange headwinds. Organic revenues increased 1.3 percent, driven by New Category revenues up 8.9 percent.
"2024 was a year of investment with results in line with our guidance. We continued our transformation this year, adding 3.6 million adult consumers (for a total of 29.1 million) of our smokeless products, which now account for 17.5 percent of the group's revenue, up 1 percentage point from 2023," Tadeu Marroco, group CEO, said in a statement on Thursday.
On the outlook for the financial year 2025, he said total tobacco industry volumes are expected to decline by 2 percent. Group revenues are expected to increase by 1 percent at constant rates due to increased excise duty and VAT in Bangladesh and new tobacco regulations in Australia.$BATS (-1,84 %)