Illustration shows BAT (British American Tobacco)
KUALA LUMPUR: British American Tobacco
(Malaysia) Bhd's focus on its combustibles segment, particularly its flagship Dunhill brand, is yielding results as its second quarter results showed improvement over the previous corresponding quarter.
According to the group, the strategic decision to transition out e-cigarette brand Vuse enabled more effective cost management and portfolio focus, which saw a 38.5% increase in profit from operations to RM78 million compared to RM56mil in the same period last year.
In the quarter under review, BAT posted a net profit of RM50.95mil, up from RM36.28mil in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share climbed to 17.8 sen from 12.7 sen previously.
Its revenue dipped slightly to RM624.75mil in 2QFY25 from RM640.46mil in the comparative quarter.
For the six-month period, BAT reported net profit of RM74.22mil against RM66.27mil in 1HFY24, while revenue dropped to RM946.74mil from RM1.05bil in the comparative period.
The board of directors declared a second interim dividend of 12 sen per share, going ex on Aug 13, 2025, and payable on Sept 4, 2025, to shareholders.
"Our second quarter results demonstrate the resilience of our combustibles portfolio, even in a highly competitive market environment, signalling that we are heading in the right strategic direction.
“Dunhill continues to stand out as the leading brand in Malaysia, gaining further momentum this quarter," said BAT Malaysia managing director Nedal Salem in a statement.
He reported that the tobacco black market also saw a decline of 0.4 percentage point at 54.4% in 2QFY25, compared to the previous quarter.
