Tobacco Giant BAT Strikes Lucky With Weak Pound

LONDON, , (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2017 ) - British American Tobacco said Thursday that its 2016 profits were boosted by a pre-Brexit decline in the pound, as the group awaits completion of its takeover of US peer Reynolds.

Net profit rose eight percent to #4.85 billion ($6.0 billion, 5.7 billion euros) last year, BAT said in an earnings release. Group revenue climbed almost 13 percent to #14.

75 billion, helped by "weakness of sterling," BAT said.

With the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes making vast sums from sales denominated in Euros and Dollars, BAT's profits are inflated once converted into sterling. The results update comes one month after BAT agreed to pay almost $50 billion (47 billion euros) for control of Reynolds American in a move that targets the lucrative United States market and the fast-growing e-cigarette sector.