British American Tobacco FY revenues seen 'slightly ahead' of guidance

(Sharecast News) - Cigarette and nicoting products giant British American Tobacco said on Tuesday that FY revenues were set to come in "slightly ahead" of previous guidance, thanks in part to a return to both top and bottom line growth in the US. British American Tobacco said FY revenues would be 1% to 2% higher year-on-year, while adjusted operating profits were expected to be 1.5% to 2.5% firmer.

The FTSE 100-listed group highlighted that its US operations were expected to return to revenue and profit growth as a result of "strengthening combustibles delivery" and an "excellent Velo Plus performance". BAT also reported "strong global growth" from Velo in its modern oral category, its fastest-growing new category segment.

Looking forward, BAT said it was "confident" in delivering 3-5% revenue growth in the mid-term and 4-6% APFO3 growth in 2026. It also said it was committed to reducing leverage to 2-2.5x by the end 2026, with a "progressive dividend" and an increase in share buy-backs to £1.1bn in 2025.

Chief executive Tadeu Marroco said: "Our revenue performance in H1 is slightly ahead of our previous guidance, and we now expect to deliver FY revenue growth of 1-2%, supporting 1.5 to 2.5% adjusted profit from operations growth3. 2025 is a deployment year and, as previously highlighted, we expect our performance to be H2 weighted, mainly driven by the roll-out of new category innovations in key markets from the middle of the year."

As of 0740 BST, BAT shares were untraded at 3,342.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com