British American Tobacco Issues Q1 Trading Update - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.L, BTI) issued an interim management statement for the three months ended 31 March 2015. Revenue at constant rates of exchange grew by 1.7% driven by strong pricing, in part due to price increases in high inflation markets. At current rates of exchange, revenue declined by 5.8%, as movements in the majority of the Group's key trading currencies continued to adversely impact reported revenue.

The Group said cigarette volume from subsidiaries was 3.6% lower at 152 billion due to industry volume decline (in particular in Brazil, Russia and Vietnam), inventory movements and a strong volume comparator in the same period last year, the impact of which is expected to moderate during the year.

The Group said its trading environment remains challenging due to continued pressure on consumers' disposable income worldwide and the impact of adverse exchange rates at a transactional level.

Nicandro Durante, Chief Executive, commented: "Our market share increased by 40 bps driven by our Global Drive Brands which continue to deliver strong share and volume growth. Revenue increased at constant rates of exchange, driven by pricing more than offsetting lower volume, while adverse exchange rate movements led to a reduction in reported revenue."

The Group reported that it is on track for another good year of earnings growth at constant rates of exchange. The Group continues to expect profit growth to be significantly weighted to the second-half of the year principally due to a strong first-half volume comparator and the timing of price increases.