British American Tobacco (BAT) and its peers breathed a sigh of relief when Rishi Sunak decided to call a snap General Election a little more than a week ago.
That is because the Government’s proposed law to clamp down on smoking by banning those born after 2009 from buying cigarettes failed to make it on to the statute books on time.
Investors in the tobacco giant will have to wait to see if BAT sheds any light on this with its update on Tuesday.
The Pall Mall cigarette maker is focusing on newer smoking alternatives such as vapes.
But the task is far from simple – given that it revealed in February that it slumped to an annual loss after taking a hit to its US business.
BAT’s American brands have suffered from falling smoking rates, lower sales amid a wider cost-of-living squeeze, and uncertainty around a potential menthol cigarette ban in the US. The firm also expects its group revenues to rise a touch this year.
BAT, which is valued at £53billion, wants to make half of its revenues from non-traditional cigarettes by 2035.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said ‘progress on paying down net debt will also be in focus’.
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