British American Tobacco (BAT), spearheaded by gains from global drive brands, increased its key-market shares during the first half of 2014, the company said.

Shipments of global drive brands, which include Rothmans, Pall Mall and Dunhill, rose 5.7 per cent. Total cigarette shipments dipped 0.4 per cent to 331 billion units, BAT said. Combined tobacco volume, including fine-cut, fell a half per cent to 344 billion stick equivalents.
Sterling’s strength against other currencies was cited for a 10 per cent drop in sales to GBP 6.8 billion (EUR 8.6 billion) and 9 per cent fall in adjusted operating profit to GBP 2.7 billion. At constant exchange rates sales would have risen 3 per cent and profit by 4 per cent, according to BAT.
“There were good performances across all our regions”, said Chief Executive Officer Nicandro Durante. “We are also investing in new product categories and we are committed to leading the industry with a strong pipeline of next-generation tobacco and nicotine products, including electronic cigarettes and tobacco heating devices.”