BAT Registers Ksh 3.9 Billion In Profits For 6 Months Of 2021

British American Tobacco (BAT) has released its 6-month financial results for 2021 making 3.9 billion shillings in profits before tax. Profits after tax stood at 2.7 billion shillings.

The tobacco seller says that gross revenue during the period stood at 20.3 billion shillings. At the same time, the company paid 9.2 billion shillings in various taxes.

“Restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, although eased relative to the first half of 2020, continue to slow down the economic recovery and adversely impact on the trading environment,” said the company in a statement.

Excise Duty rates on cigarettes increased by 5 percent in October 2020. “This triggered a price increase which generated additional pressures on consumer affordability resulting in down trading to lower-priced brands and high incidence of illicit trading in cigarettes.

“Illicit trade in tax-evaded cigarettes continues to negatively impact industry revenues and is estimated to deny the government approximately 4 billion shillings annually in taxes,” said BA.

During the period, gross revenue for the company increased by 20.3 billion shillings driven by the recovery of domestic sales volumes, excise-led price increases, and sustained momentum on export sales.

The total cost of operations increased by 27 percent to 8.6 billion shillings driven by higher sales volumes. The company has proposed an interim dividend of 3.50 shillings per share.