British American Tobacco boss says no to ditching London listing

The boss of British American Tobacco says swapping its London listing for New York would be a ‘distraction’ and is not on the cards.

In a boost for the City, Tadeu Marroco, chief executive of the company behind Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes, dismissed the idea of shifting the FTSE 100 group’s primary listing to the US.

Marroco told the Financial Times that a move ‘would create a lot of distraction internally’, and he was ‘not sure the benefit would be as evident as some suggest’.

BAT shares have slumped by over a fifth in the past year, giving it a valuation of around £52billion.

But Marroco said his attention is not on a move. ‘I don’t think we should be focused on this,’ he said.