29th Jul 2015 06:35
LONDON (Alliance News) - British American Tobacco PLC on Wednesday reported growth in profit in the first half of 2015, although revenue was hit by adverse exchange rate movements, but it said it remains confident it will deliver an improved performance in the second half.
The FTSE 100-listed tobacco company reported a rise in pretax profit in the six months to June 30 to GBP3.5 billion from GBP2.6 billion, as revenue grew 2.4% at constant rates to GBP7 billion from GBP6.8 billion, but declined 5.9% to GBP6.4 billion at current rates. It said that revenue was driven by good pricing, but was hit by adverse exchange movements.
BAT will pay an interim dividend of 49.4 pence, up from 47.5p.
"As we anticipated, the first half of the year has been impacted by adverse exchange rate movements and a strong first half volume comparator. The underlying performance of the business remains strong, and we are confident that we are on course to deliver an improved second half, leading to another year of good earnings growth at constant rates of exchange. Underscoring our commitment to growing shareholder returns we intend to reflect this good underlying performance with an increase in the full year dividend," Chairman Richard Burrows said in a statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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