British American Tobacco (BAT) operating profit in the first half of 2015 fell 4.6 per cent due to expected adverse movements in foreign exchange rates but performance for the rest of the year should improve, the company said.
Global drive brand volume increased 6 per cent on the strength of Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans. Other international brands, including Craven A, Peter Stuyvesant and Viceroy, declined 6.1 per cent. Combined volume fell 2.9 per cent to 322 billion sticks.
“Our market share, an important indicator of the underlying strength of our business, grew strongly with corporate share up 40 basis points in the key markets and the global drive brands continuing to perform excellently with share up 80 basis points. Pricing in general continued to be strong, with price/mix ahead of last year,” said BAT Chairman Richard Burrows.
Operating profit at GBP 2.35 billion (EUR 3.31 billion) compared with GBP 2.53 billion in the first half of 2014. Revenue fell 5.9 per cent to GBP 6.4 billion. At constant currency rates, sales would have gained 2.4 per cent and reported earnings 3 per cent, BAT said.