British American Tobacco

With more than 200 brands in our portfolio, we make the cigarette chosen by one in eight of the world’s one billion adult smokers. We hold robust market positions in each of our regions and have leadership in more than 60 markets.

In 2012, our subsidiary companies sold 694 billion cigarettes.

In the same year, our subsidiaries enabled governments worldwide to gather more than £30 billion in duty, excise and sales taxes on our products, more than seven times the Group’s profit after tax.

We have sustained a significant global presence for over 100 years. Our business was founded in 1902 and by 1912 had become one of the world’s top dozen companies by market capitalisation.

At the end of 2012, our company was the sixth-largest listed on the London Stock Exchange.

We have 44 cigarette factories in 39 countries and employ more than 55,000 people worldwide. Our workforce is strongly multi-cultural and we have a devolved structure, with each local company having wide freedom of action and responsibility for its operations. Decisions are made as close as possible to the local stakeholders of each business, within a framework of principles, standards, policies, strategies and delegated authorities.

We believe that because our products pose risks to health, it is all the more important that our business is managed responsibly. Responsibility is integral to our strategy and through dialogue with our stakeholders, we are working to pursue our commercial objectives in ways consistent with changing expectations of a modern tobacco business.