The country’s largest tobacco company is set to cut 20 per cent of its workforce, according to The Edge Markets.

British American Tobacco (Malaysia) is undergoing an internal reorganisation due to challenging external market forces, such as high levels of illegal products and increasing taxes. The company currently employs around 500 workers but will be laying off 20 per cent of its staff in Malaysia, reports The Edge Market.
This decision comes just after its rival JTI Malaysia cut more than a third of its workforce in the country and two years after both companies shut down their manufacturing plants in Malaysia.
BAT Malaysia reported a 29.8 per cent year-on-year drop in its net profit for the cumulative nine months that ended in September. The company’s managing director Erik Stoel said in a statement, “with the reorganisation, the company will be able to optimise its way of working. This will ensure that the company is better placed to meet ever-evolving consumer needs and deliver savings that can be reinvested into accelerating growth into the new categories.”