State regulation and excise tax hike squeeze BAT profits

An increase in excise tax and tighter government regulation of the tobacco industry saw British American Tobacco’s (BAT) net profit drop marginally last year.

Although the company’s total revenue for the financial year ending December 31, 2019 increased by 9.1 per cent from Sh36.5 million in 2018 to Sh39.8 billion in 2019, profit after tax reduced to Sh3.9 billion, from Sh4.1 billion the previous year.