British American Tobacco’s profit grows by 39% in Jul-Sep

British American Tobacco (BAT) Bangladesh, the country’s top tobacco manufacturer, posted a staggering 39 per cent year-on-year surge in net profit in the third quarter (July-September) of 2022.

In July-September this year, the company logged a net profit of Tk 410 crore against Tk 294 crore in net profit in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the multinational company’s revenue shot up by 24 per cent to Tk 1575 crore in July-September of 2022, according to the company’s Q3 financial statement.

The tobacco manufacturer’s earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 7.59 for Q3 this year from Tk 5.45 last year.

The earnings surged this July-September owing to an inflated profit after tax, thanks to the surging volume of sales meantime, the company said.

The country’s top tobacco manufacturer also posted a 14.53 per cent surge in net profit to Tk 1324 crore in the first nine months (January-September) this year, compared to Tk 1156 crore in net profit in the same period of 2021.

The company’s revenue also surged by 7.83 per cent to Tk 26571 crore in January-September this year on a year-on-year basis.

It posted a revenue of Tk 24443 crore in the first nine months of last year.

Considering the hefty profit in the third quarter this year, the company declared an interim cash dividend of 100 per cent to its shareholders, according to its Q3 audited financial report.

To this end, the record date has been set as November 21 for the share splits.

The company’s revenue from domestic sales grew by 13.39 per cent in the first nine months this year, as the volume of cigarette sales stood at 4859 crore sticks this January-September from 4534 crore sticks in the same period last year.

Its exports, however, fell in January-September this year.

Its revenue from exports stood at Tk 1.12 crore in January-September 2022 against Tk 3.5 crore in January-September 2021, the company data read.

BATBC, however, has put a heavy investment in its Savar factories to ramp up the production facilities in a bid to boost its export income.

In the last one and a half years, it invested more than Tk 1,000 crore in its Savar-based factories, according to its filings with the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

This investment would cater to the upcoming export opportunities and create contingency capacity, the company said.

BAT Bangladesh manufactures a wide range of tobacco products namely Benson & Hedges, John Player Gold Leaf, Capstan, Star, Royals, Lucky Strike, Derby, Pilot, Flag, and Hollywood.

The company got listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 1977.

The company’s total number of outstanding securities is 54 crore with a face value of Tk 10.

BATBC shares were traded at Tk 518.7 per share on the trading floor of the DSE on Tuesday.

Its share prices moved between Tk 510 and Tk 699.3 in the last one year.

Its sponsors-directors hold a 72.91 per cent stake in the company, while the government owns 0.64 per cent, institutes 12.62 per cent, foreign 6.55 per cent, and the public 7.28 per cent till September 30 this year.