British American Tobacco shares light up

FTSE 100 cigarette manufacturer British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) has seen its share price rise by 2.24% to 3,053p (as of 12:05 GMT) after it published a pre-close trading update. The company said that volumes were in line with expectations and that it was on track to achieve constant currency revenue growth of 3-5% in the US. Management also said that the company’s market share and sales in the new product categories improved during the second half of the year.

CEO Jack Bowles commented: “We expect to deliver a strong performance in 2019, building on the good progress we made in the first half. Our focus on our global strategic brands is delivering share gains and strong price mix in combustibles, both globally and in the US. Increased investment and new product launches are delivering good New Category revenue growth in H2, despite the recent slowdown in the US vapour market. We believe that the issues around vaping in the US should lead to a better and stronger regulatory environment in which we are well placed to succeed. In summary, we are delivering on our priorities. We are driving value growth in combustibles, we are investing to deliver a step change in New Categories and we are transforming the business to create a stronger, simpler, more agile BAT. We are on track for a strong year“.