British American Tobacco p.l.c.
17
September 2024
Management Board Changes
Announced
A key pillar of the refined BAT strategy
announced earlier this year is the delivery of a Sustainable
Future. Together with a focus on Quality Growth and a more Dynamic
Business, this underpins the Building of a Smokeless
World.
To accelerate our progress, BAT announces today
that Kingsley Wheaton will be appointed into the newly created role
of Chief Corporate Officer. Kingsley's current role, Chief Strategy
& Growth officer, will cease to exist. Reporting into Tadeu
Marroco, Chief Executive, the Chief Corporate Officer will have
overall responsibility for the strategy and execution of the
Group's Sustainable Future pillar, including:
· Establishing broad acceptance of our Tobacco Harm Reduction
(THR) agenda, working with BAT's Director, Research and Science,
James Murphy, to ensure the scientific basis for harm reduction and
encouraging a fact-based discussion on nicotine among key
stakeholders;
· Shaping the landscape through responsible and transparent
dialogue with regulators, policy makers and other relevant
stakeholders; and
· Enhancing BAT's leadership in sustainability and
integrity.
Paul McCrory, Director, Corporate and Regulatory
Affairs will continue to report to Kingsley in this role. Paul's
leadership has been instrumental in re-establishing this critical
function for BAT's future. Significant progress has been made in
both developing the functional strategy and sharpening its
executional focus.
Paul and Kingsley will work together during this
important phase, as the management team continues to evolve to
deliver the strategy.
Donato Del Vecchio, Chief Sustainability
Officer, will also continue to report to Kingsley.
As we continue to expand and grow our smokeless
new category product portfolio and Kingsley takes up this new role,
Luciano Comin, Marketing Director, Combustibles & New
Categories, will be appointed as Chief Marketing Officer, reporting
directly to Tadeu Marroco, the Chief Executive.
James Barrett, Director, Business Development,
will report to Soraya Benchikh, the Chief Financial Officer,
bringing business development and M&A together with the rest of
the Finance function.
All these changes are effective
immediately.
Tadeu Marroco, Chief Executive, commented on
these changes:
"We will be taking an important step later today
in our journey to encourage THR acceptance with the launch of a
compelling science and evidential case for THR in the form of 'The
Omni: Forward Thinking for a Smokeless World'.
As we embark on the next phases of building a
Sustainable Future this is the right time to make these changes and
together, Kingsley, Paul, James and Donato, will form a powerful
and complementary leadership team to deliver real
change.
"I would like to thank Kingsley for all that he
has done as Chief Strategy & Growth Officer. He has stepped
into the role at a critical time for BAT and has helped shape the
strategy and establish new functional capabilities. In all of these
areas, BAT is now stronger and more robust."
Kingsley Wheaton, Chief Corporate Officer
commented:
"I feel honoured to take up this new challenge.
As BAT moves forward towards A Better Tomorrow, the focus on this
area of the strategy will be all-important. I am looking forward to
bringing my experience and understanding of, both BAT and the
external environment, and making a real difference."
ENDS
Enquiries
Media
Centre
+44 (0) 20 7845 2888 (24 hours) | press_office@bat.com
| @BATplc
Investor
Relations
Victoria Buxton: +44 (0)20 7845 2012 | IR_team@bat.com
About BAT
BAT is a leading, multi-category consumer goods
business. Our purpose is to create A Better Tomorrow™ by Building a
Smokeless World. This commitment is demonstrated by our ambition to
have 50 million consumers of our smokeless products by
2030.
BAT employs over 46,000 people and, in
2023, the BAT Group generated revenue of £27.28
billion, with an adjusted profit from operations of £12.46
billion.
BAT currently has 26.4 million consumers of its
smokeless brands, which accounted for 17.9% of Group revenue in the
first half of 2024. We are committed to becoming a predominantly
smokeless business and have been clear on our ambition that 50% of
our revenue will come from smokeless products by 2035.
The company's Strategic Portfolio is made up of
its global cigarette brands and a growing range of smokeless
nicotine and tobacco products. These include our Vapour brand Vuse;
our Heated Product brand glo; and Velo our Modern Oral (nicotine
pouch) brand. These New Category products have delivered more than
£3 billion in annual revenue since their introduction a decade
ago.
The company continues to be clear that
combustible cigarettes pose serious health risks, and the only way
to avoid these risks is not to start or to quit. While addictive
and not risk free, to help Build a Smokeless World, BAT encourages
those who would otherwise continue to smoke to switch completely to
our smokeless alternatives.
We are also reducing our use of natural
resources, improving livelihoods, and delivering on our climate
goals to be Net Zero across our value chain by 2050.
Forward-looking statements
This release contains certain forward-looking
statements, including "forward-looking" statements made within the
meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements are often, but not always, made through the
use of words or phrases such as "believe," "anticipate," "could,"
"may," "would," "should," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict,"
"will," "expect," "estimate," "project," "positioned," "strategy,"
"outlook", "target" and similar expressions. These include
statements regarding our customer target ambition, New Categories
revenue targets and our ESG targets.
All such forward-looking statements involve
estimates and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties
and other factors. It is believed that the expectations reflected
in this release are reasonable but they may be affected by a wide
range of variables that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those currently anticipated. A review of the
reasons why actual results and developments may differ materially
from the expectations disclosed or implied within forward-looking
statements can be found by referring to the information contained
under the headings "Cautionary Statement" and "Group Principal
Risks " in the 2023 Annual Report and Form 20-F of British American
Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT).
Additional information concerning these and
other factors can be found in BAT's filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the Annual
Report on Form 20-F and Current Reports on Form 6-K, which may be
obtained free of charge at the SEC's website,
http://www.sec.gov
and BAT's Annual Reports, which may be obtained
free of charge from the BAT website www.bat.com.
Past performance is no guide to
future performance and persons needing advice should consult an
independent financial adviser. The forward-looking statements
reflect knowledge and information available at the date of
preparation of this release and BAT undertakes no obligation to
update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking
statements.