British American Tobacco Confident of Fiscal Year 2017 Earnings Growth

By Adam Clark

British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.LN) said Wednesday that trading in the second half of 2017 has proceeded in line with its expectations and that it remains confident of recording solid full-year earnings growth.

BATS expects to report organic operating profit growth for the second half, after benefiting from the phasing of shipments in key markets, although this will be offset by a more difficult pricing environment in some markets, it said.

The company added that its full-year earnings per share will benefit from a currency translation tailwind of 5% and that its integration of Reynolds American Inc. is on track.

BATS forecasts that volumes in the tobacco industry as a whole will fall 4% in 2017, but that it will outperform the industry due to continued market share growth.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com; @AdamDowJones

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 13, 2017 02:35 ET (07:35 GMT)

British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024