KUALA LUMPUR: British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT) posted a lower set of numbers for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (Q3’23).

In a statement today, the tobacco company said revenue for the quarter stood at RM607 million, lower than the RM667 million recorded a

year ago. On a quarter-to-quarter basis, revenue for Q3’23 declined by 10.5% from RM678 million in Q2’22. Profit from operations for the quarter under review was RM85 million compared to RM116 million in the same period last year. On a quarter-to-quarter basis, profit from operations increased by 16.6% from RM73 million in Q2’23.

The company declared a third interim ordinary dividend of 19 sen per ordinary share amounting to RM54.2 million, payable on Nov 28, 2023 to shareholders.

For the first three quarters of the 2023 financial year (FY’23), BAT continued its strategy of transitioning into a multicategory business by driving investment into its New Category business, which offers reduced-risk alternatives to adult smokers. Due to this investment, BAT recorded a 29.4% decrease in its profit of operations to RM217 million compared with RM307 million a year ago. Revenue stood at RM1.7 billion compared with RM1.8 billion a year ago, due to volume weakness experienced.

BAT saw a marginal dip in its overall market share of 0.5%, while volume declined by 9.4%.

Although the industry’s Premium segment declined due to consumers downtrading, Dunhill remained strong, commanding above 60% share of the Premium segment. The company’s

Aspirational Premium (AP) brand, Peter Stuyvesant claimed an additional 1.1% of the segment share during this period. BAT also launched Luckies within the Value-for-Month (VFM) segment during the third quarter of this year to offer more affordable options to consumers.

During Q3’23, BAT undertook a modest price increase in its Premium and AP segments, prompted by rising inflation and increased cost of business. This marksthe first time BAT has adjusted its prices since 2018.