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British American Tobacco (BAT) has reported a 10.5% rise in profits from operations to £9.9 billion in 2020, as diluted earnings per share increased 12%.
According to the company's annual financial report for the year ending December 31, 2020, its operative margin grew by 380 basis points to 38.6%, while revenue grew 3.3% to £26.7 billion when currency is excluded.
If the foreign currency headwind of 3.5% is taken into account, revenue was 0.4% down on 2019 at £25.7 billion.
Dividends per share for 2020 will be 215.6p, an increase of 2.5% and in line with BAT's commitment of a 65% pay-out ratio on adjusted diluted earnings per share, the company said.
BAT's CEO, Jack Bowles, said: 'Recent months have seen upheaval on a global scale as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has had a profound impact on business and society as a whole. At the beginning of the crisis, we took swift action across the entire business to ensure we could continue to operate safely and effectively. Today, working remotely remains the norm for many at BAT. Where this has not been possible, for example in many of our factories around the world, the necessary measures have been put in place to ensure our people can work safely and securely.
'Creating a more efficient, agile and focused business is vital to delivering a better tomorrow. Our aim is to deliver annualised £1 billion in efficiency savings by 2022 and in 2020 we made good progress, with Quantum enabling gross savings of £660 million through organisational change and productivity initiatives.'
The company also confirmed that chairman, Richard Burrows, is stepping down from the role and retiring from the board. He is being replaced by Luc Jobin as chairman of the board.