British American Tobacco now sees 2023 organic revenue at low end of guidance

British American Tobacco issued the following technical guidance for full year 2023: Global tobacco industry volume expected to be down circa 3%; Low end of 3-5% organic constant currency revenue growth; Strong New Category revenue growth with further improvement in category contribution alongside incremental investment; Mid-single figure constant currency adjusted diluted EPS growth, including a circa 2% transactional FX headwind; Translational FX is expected to be a circa 3% headwind on full year adjusted diluted EPS growth; Non-cash amortization charge will be treated as an adjusting item; Adjusted diluted EPS includes the divestment of our business in Russia/Belarus in September; Operating cash flow conversion close to 100%. Tadeu Marroco, Chief Executive, said: “In 2023 we continue to expect another year of delivery in line with our guidance. I am encouraged by the strong performances of Vuse and Velo, delivering strong volume led revenue growth, and increased profitability. As a result, we now expect New Categories to be broadly breakeven in 2023, two years ahead of our original target. In combustibles, while the U.S. macro-economic environment remains challenging, I am encouraged that our commercial plans are starting to deliver early signs of portfolio recovery. In AME and APMEA we expect to deliver another strong revenue and profit performance, driven by the strength of our well-balanced portfolio of global brands. Together, this performance demonstrates the benefit of our global footprint, and multi-category strategy. To accelerate the next phase of our transformation journey, we are now committing to ‘Building a Smokeless World’. We will deploy our global multi-category portfolio to actively encourage smokers to ‘Switch to Better’ nicotine products, realising the multi-stakeholder benefits of ‘A Better Tomorrow’.”