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World's second-largest tobacco company, selling cigarettes (Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Camel outside US, Newport) and next-generation nicotine products.
World's second-largest tobacco company, selling cigarettes (Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Camel outside US, Newport) and next-generation nicotine products.
Cigarettes pay for the future: price rises outweigh falling volumes, producing cash that funds dividends and the push into vapes and nicotine pouches. The US, through Reynolds American, bought in 2017, is the largest market. It also holds a long-standing stake in ITC of India.
In one line: UK's Altria/Philip Morris combined.
Moat: wide (brand, scale, distribution). Global portfolio of century-old cigarette brands and distribution scale new entrants cannot legally replicate.
Headquarters: London, UK · Founded: 1902 · Employees: 47,797
Size British American Tobacco p.l.c (BATS.L) is a United Kingdom Consumer Staples company (Tobacco) with a market value of $132B, the 7th largest of 363 United Kingdom companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at £4,567 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 1.4%, against -7.9% for the median peer and +3.6% for the United Kingdom market (cap-weighted) — 7th highest of 14 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 0.7% over the last twelve months (peer median +2.4%); the operating margin is 37.9% (peer median 21.3%).
Valuation It trades at 12.6× forward earnings against a peer median of 16.4× (4th cheapest of 13).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 4% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is 0%, so the hurdle is +4 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 1.4 points above its cost of capital (7.6% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 11 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £25.8B | £25.6B | £25.9B | £27.3B | £27.7B |
| Revenue growth | — | -1% | -5% | -1% | — |
| Gross profit | £15.7B | £16.0B | £16.4B | £19.1B | £19.4B |
| EBITDA | £12.5B | £12.4B | £6.03B | £13.4B | £13.0B |
| Net income | £6.35B | £7.68B | £3.03B | -£14.4B | £6.62B |
| Free cash flow | £5.40B | £4.36B | £8.12B | £8.72B | £8.38B |
| Capital expenditure | £727M | £704M | £608M | £601M | £656M |
| Total debt | n/a | £35.1B | £37.0B | £39.7B | £38.9B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British American Tobacco p.l.c BATS.L | $132B | -1% | +1% | 38% | 12.6× | 3.8% |
| Philip Morris International PM | $308B | +17% | +8% | 38% | 22.6× | -0.8% |
| Altria MO | $127B | +13% | +2% | 75% | 12.9× | -10.9% |
| Imperial Brands IMB.L | $29.9B | +5% | +5% | 19% | 8.9× | -9.3% |
| Japan Tobacco 2914.T | $70.6B | +9% | +13% | 25% | 16.8× | -5.3% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | BATS.L | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +9.8% | +3.6% | 4th highest of 14 |
| 6-month return | -1.4% | -7.9% | 7th highest of 14 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -8.7% | -31.8% | 4th highest of 14 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +0.7% | +2.4% | 6th lowest of 14 |
| Operating margin | 37.9% | 21.3% | 2nd highest of 14 |
| Forward P/E | 12.6× | 16.4× | 4th cheapest of 13 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 3.8% | -0.8% | 7th most demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | -0.1% | +5.7% | 2nd lowest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +3.9 pp | -9.6 pp | 4th most demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +1.4 pp | +8.4 pp | 3rd lowest of 14 |
| EV / EBITDA | 10.5× | 11.2× | 7th cheapest of 14 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.6× | 0.4× | 2nd most indebted of 14 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British American Tobacco p.l.c BATS.L | United Kingdom | $132B | -1% | +1% | 38% | 12.6× | 3.8% | -0.1% |
| Altria MO | United States | $127B | +13% | +2% | 75% | 12.9× | -10.9% | -0.7% |
| Japan Tobacco 2914.T | Japan | $70.6B | +9% | +13% | 25% | 16.8× | -5.3% | +10.6% |
| Philip Morris International PM | United States | $308B | +17% | +8% | 38% | 22.6× | -0.8% | +7.2% |
| ITC ITC.NS | India | $37.5B | -8% | -2% | 30% | 20.2× | 13.2% | +9.8% |
| Imperial Brands IMB.L | United Kingdom | $29.9B | +5% | +5% | 19% | 8.9× | -9.3% | +2.7% |
| KT&G 033780.KS | South Korea | $14.5B | +7% | +11% | 21% | 15.2× | -4.2% | +5.4% |
| Smoore International 6969.HK | Hong Kong | $6.61B | -19% | +25% | 7% | 32.3× | 28.7% | +6.6% |
| Godfrey Phillips India GODFRYPHLP.NS | India | $2.96B | -24% | +1% | 21% | 16.0× | 27.1% | +20.6% |
| China Tobacco International (HK) 6055.HK | Hong Kong | $2.31B | -12% | -20% | 10% | 19.8× | 4.1% | +33.1% |
| Turning Point Brands TPB | United States | $1.32B | -29% | +20% | 17% | 71.8× | 11.0% | +2.7% |
| Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S STG.CO | Denmark | $890M | +10% | -4% | 14% | 7.6× | -9.1% | +2.4% |
| Miquel y Costas & Miquel MCM.MC | Spain | $434M | -29% | -4% | 15% | n/a | -7.7% | +2.7% |
| VST Industries VSTIND.NS | India | $349M | -25% | -2% | 22% | 8.7× | 9.5% | +5.7% |