British American Tobacco has maintained its outlook for profit and sales next year as it doubled down on a pledge to become a “smokeless business” by 2035.
The owner of Pall Mall and Lucky Strike expects adjusted profit from its operations to grow between four to six per cent next year, alongside revenue growth of three to five per cent in 2026.
It came as British American Tobacco reported annual profit from operations of £2.7bn, up from a loss of £15.8bn last year and despite a provision of £6.2bn related to a major litigation settlement in Canada.
Revenue declined five per cent to £25.9bn as BAT forecast a mild slowdown in global tobacco industry volumes this year.
Dividends per share rose two per cent to 240.24p.
Investors in the firm have slowly bought into its shift away from traditional tobacco products to vaping devices.
Smokeless products now account for 17.5 per cent of the group’s revenue after it added 3.6m consumers to its tally last year.
Shares are up just over 40 per cent over the last 12 months and boss Tadeu Marroco on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to the transition.
“We are committed to Building a Smokeless World and becoming a predominantly Smokeless business by 2035,” he said.
“I am confident that we have the right strategy, science, innovation, breadth of capabilities and people to achieve this ambition and deliver long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders.
He added: “Our performance has accelerated in the second half, driven by the phasing of New Categories innovation and the benefits of investment in US commercial actions, together with the unwind of related wholesaler inventory movements.”