British American Tobacco cut its annual adjusted profit and revenue forecasts on Tuesday, citing the impact of prolonged lockdowns in South Africa and Mexico and a bigger sales hit in countries including Bangladesh and Vietnam.
The Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarette maker now expects constant-currency adjusted revenue growth in the 1%-3% range for 2020, compared with its prior expectation of revenue in the low end of a 3% to 5% range.
Cuts Profit Forecast
The world's second-largest tobacco group also cut its profit forecast, saying it now expects adjusted earnings per share to grow in the mid-single digit percentage range from its earlier forecast of a high-single digit increase.
The company also pushed its target for achieving £5 billion in sales from its new categories - e-cigarettes, tobacco heating products and oral products - to 2025 from 2023-24 earlier.
BAT, however, kept its dividend payout target for the year, in contrast to rival Imperial Brands PlC that cut its annual dividend by a third last month, in a bid to save cash during the coronavirus pandemic.
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