FYR 2020: our transformation story in focus on CNBC

Chief Marketing Officer Kingsley Wheaton appeared on CNBC Europe’s morning business show Squawk Box to discuss BAT’s 2020 preliminary results, which were released today (17 February).

At BAT, we are committed to our purpose of building A Better Tomorrow™ by reducing the health impact of our business through providing a range of enjoyable and less risky products. We continue to be clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious health risks, and the only way to avoid these risks is not to start or to quit.

We encourage those who otherwise continue to smoke, to switch completely to scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives.*

In the interview, Kingsley highlighted our growth in New Categories and earnings in the year to 31 December 2020. He said this “great performance”, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was proof that our strategy is working.

He also drew attention to our ambition to have 50million consumers of our non-combustible products by 2030, adding that 10% of our revenues now come from non-combustible products. Kingsley said: “We had a great performance in that regard in 2020, gaining real momentum in the second half of the year when consumer adoption of our New Category products doubled vs the first half.

He added: “We have a unique, consumer-centric multi-category strategy. And what’s exciting is that it’s working and that we have momentum in all three of our New Categories (vapour, tobacco heating products and modern oral).”

On the topic of how COVID-19 has impacted businesses, Kingsley said BAT was very pleased to have grown revenue, profit and earnings in a year so affected by the pandemic.

He said: “[COVID-19] has enabled us to accelerate the transformation of our business. We’ve developed and invested in new capabilities and new ways of bringing our [New Categories] portfolio to consumers.

He added: “It’s enabled us to more radically shake-up the way we do business and underpin our transformation from a tobacco company to a company that’s more about technology.”

You can watch the full interview above. Click the link to read our preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2020.