British American Tobacco (BAT) saw its 2019 pretax profit rise as revenue grew. The company says t 2020 results will be weighted toward the second half of the year.
BAT’s 2019 pretax profit was GBP7.91 billion (US$10.24 billion), compared with GBP8.35 billion for 2018. The company’s revenue in 2019 was GBP25.88 billion, compared with GBP24.49 billion the year before.
The company expects adjusted revenue growth at constant rates of exchange in the 3-5% guidance range, together with continued operating margin improvement. However, it anticipates the global industry cigarette and tobacco-heating products volume in 2020 to fall around 4%. BAT declared a dividend of 210.4 pence a share, a 3.6% rise from 2018.Jack Bowles, BAT’s c.e.o, said, "Looking into 2020, we are confident of another year of high single-figure adjusted constant-currency earnings growth.”