British smokers are switching to e-cigarettes faster than anyone else in Europe February 6, 2017 Britons are switching from cigarettes to electronic alternatives faster than anyone else in Europe. Since 2013, one person has switched from traditional smoking to so-called vaping every four minutes in the UK, according to new research from EY. And now more than 2m British people vape, a total of 4.2 per cent of adults. By contrast, the [...]
Budget 2017: The new cigarette tax will be based on a pack price of £7.35 March 8, 2017 A new minimum excise tax (MET) will raise prices of the cheapest cigarettes. During his Budget speech today, chancellor Philip Hammond said the so-called floor on cigarettes is based on a pack price of £7.35. An MET is effectively a floor price that will hike the price of low-cost brands in an effort to encourage smokers to quit rather than switch [...]
British American Tobacco boss made £4.5m last year March 22, 2016 British American Tobacco (BAT) today revealed that chief executive Nicandro Durante received a pay rise in 2015. The company's annual report shows Durante was paid a total of £4.52m last year, up from £3.62m in 2014. However, his remuneration has yet to climb back to the levels of a few years ago – in 2013 he was [...]
Tobacco firms Philip Morris, British American Tobacco launch case against EU Tobacco Products Directive April 3, 2016 Major tobacco firms have launched a legal challenge against a European directive that could increase the price of the cheapest packs of cigarettes by 70p. Philip Morris International is leading the challenge in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive, also known as TPD2, which was adopted in May 2014 but has [...]
Imperial Brands lights up a joint venture deal with China Tobacco to expand into the world’s number one cigarette market January 11, 2017 Imperial Brands has made a move on the world’s largest cigarette market through a joint venture with state-owned China National Tobacco (CNTC). Shares in Imperial, the world’s fourth-largest tobacco company, shot up more than three per cent after the announcement, before closing up 0.95 per cent to 3,626.50p. CNTC has a hold on more than [...]
British American Tobacco posts revenue and volume growth in first quarter trading updates but warns profits are likely to come in second half of the year April 26, 2016 British American Tobacco posted healthy revenue and volume growth in the first quarter of 2016, but has warned its profits could be weighted to the second half of the year due to the impact of currency headwinds. The figures Revenue at the world's second largest cigarette company increased by 1.7 per cent at current rates of [...]
This is what the booze and tobacco sectors are hoping to see in the Spring Budget March 6, 2017 The countdown is nearly over – the Spring Budget is now just two days away. Britain's beer and spirits sector has been campaigning for weeks in a bid to urge chancellor Philip Hammond to cut the beer duty while the industry grapples with cost pressures from rocketing business rates and increases to the national minimum wage. Here's [...]
This is how much UK and global deal activity dropped in 2016 after a record-breaking 2015 January 3, 2017 The UK, hit by uncertainty around Brexit, led a decline in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity last year. New figures released yesterday show that M&A deal values totalled $3.84 trillion (£3.13 trilion) in 2016, down 18 per cent from a record $4.66 trillion in 2015. Read more: After subdued 2016, these bankers are calling a 2017 [...]
BAT’s vaping robots find e-cigarettes don’t deliver as much nicotine as traditional smokes December 9, 2016 Vaping robots are testing British American Tobacco’s electronic cigarettes to find out how nicotine and vapour delivery to lung cells compare to traditional cigarettes. Dr James Murphy, head of risk substantiation at BAT, said the company had to be sure that other tests weren’t just saying e-cigarette vapour had a reduced impact because it was [...]
Dividends from FTSE 100 companies expected to rise but investors should watch out for low cover December 14, 2016 Companies in the FTSE 100 are forecast to pay out £78.4bn in dividends in 2017, according to a new report. The total payouts are expected to be 4.6bn higher than 2016 forecasts in a report by AJ Bell, a provider of investment platforms and stockbroker services. This is equivalent to a yield of 4.6 per [...]