the public ban has zero effect on smoker numbers. if public bans worked there would be no drug addicts at all.

looks to me like its ready to climb after its latest correct.

now the weather has taken a turn for the better, smokers will be smoking a extra 4 a day, now thats what i call a good sales multiple.

From the Blue Index blog

Lighting Up Time
May 6th, 2009

Im not an avid smoker myself, although I am partial to the odd cigar or two. What is remarkable though, is that despite the longstanding threat of litigation and the prospect of being sued for vast, balance sheet breaking sums, the tobacco companies go from strength to strength

This morning British American Tobacco (BATS), said it expects another year of good earnings growth, with no falloff in volumes in its first quarter despite tougher trading conditions. Purveyors of many leading tobacco brands, BATS reports strong revenue growth in constant currency terms, due to good pricing, with all regions contributing, and the group result also benefited from favourable currency movements. The groups four Global Drive Brands achieved overall volume growth of 7%, with Dunhill up 8%, Kent up 3%, Lucky Strike up 4% and Pall Mall up by 11%, while volume growth came from last years acquisitions of Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni and Tekel. CEO Paul Adams said the group have been encouraged by the good start to the year, and added the first quarters trading demonstrates the strength of British American Tobaccos business, despite the difficult economic conditions.

Full transcript here
http://blog.blueindex.co.uk/2009/05/lighting-up-time/

I've noticed that these and IMT have been on the rise since the BP problems, a coincidence?..maybe, maybe not, funds looking for a safer home perhaps. What do you think anyone?

British Am. Tobacco Inks Pact With EU To Tackle Illicit Tobacco Trade
British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Thursday 15 July 2010
British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.LN) said Thursday that it has entered into a cooperation agreement with the European Commission and the Member States of the European Union to collectively tackle the problem of illicit trade in tobacco.

MAIN FACTS:

-Under the agreement, British American Tobacco will be joining forces with and working alongside the European Commission and the law enforcement authorities of the Member States; The agreement will see cooperation in several areas for tackling illicit trade in tobacco and includes the funding by British American Tobacco of $200 million over the next 20 years.

Nearly 24.. the market's gone bonkers -):

These have risen in 4 out of the last 5 years after IMT has gone ex divi, been trying to get in with limit orders for days, finally succeeded at last!

23-Jan-13. British American Tobacco BATS. Citigroup Buy. 3,195.00p 3,785.00p 3,785.00p Reiteration.. 3785.00p? chance a be a fine thing -):

Up she goes, I want a quid a share at least out of this one.

On track so far.

And another good day for backy shares, up to 3301p now, but expect a down correction tomorrow.

Down 5%ish, but only mainly as result of todays IMT news/markdown IMHO, probably now a recovery play for those not in at some point.

Pleased with the payday on Friday, fallen back since then but on the way back up again now. To go back in or not that is the question.

Stan - there was a bit here earlier on IMT.

Thanks Skinny IMT one to avoid I think, This play on BAT was purely on the evidence of what I said in post 7. It's nice when the strategy does pay off, Think I'll stay out of these for now though.

Predictably down by the Divi amount of 93p or thereabouts so far.

British American Tobacco enters electronic cigarette market in Britain with the 'Vype'

British American Tobacco has become the first tobacco company to launch an electronic cigarette in the UK, raising fears that it could eventually boost its profits with public money should the NHS begin prescribing ecigarettes as a smoking-cessation tool.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced earlier this year that it plans to regulate the products as non-prescription medicines from 2016, at which point they would be considered as a treatment option for the NHS. At present the market is dominated by smaller manufacturers who could struggle to thrive in a heavily regulated marketplace.

BAT confirmed on Monday that the firm’s new ecigarette, known as Vype, will be available to buy online from Tuesday, and will then be brought into shops from September this year.

Interims out today http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO72TJQU/$FILE/medMD9A4Q2X.pdf?openelement

Going Ex divi this week paying 45p or 1.32% at Fridays close.

British American Tabacco: Citi cuts target from 4000p to 3800p, while leaving its buy recommendation unaltered

BAT grows sales http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4691662

All cigarettes going to be in plain packaging with just the nasty health warnings and sickly pictures on government announced on the news tonight .

StockMarketWire.com
British American Tobacco reports a strong performance in 2014 in a tough environment with group revenue up by 2.8% at £15,682m at constant rates of exchange.

Reported revenue was 8.4% lower at £13,971m, as a result of adverse exchange rate movements.

Adjusted group profit from operations increased by 4.4% at constant rates of exchange to £6,075m and decreased by 7.2% at current rates of exchange to £5,403m.

Profit from operations, at current rates of exchange, was 17.7% lower at £4,546 million, impacted by a non-tobacco litigation charge and adverse exchange movements on a translational and transactional level.

Chairman Richard Burrows said:
"The Group continued to perform extremely well despite challenging trading conditions. We grew revenue and profit at constant rates of exchange and we increased our market share.

"Although significant exchange rate movements in many of our key currencies impacted our reported results, the underlying performance of our business remains strong. The increase in our total dividend for 2014 to 148.1p reflects our commitment to growing shareholder returns as well as our confidence in the strength of our business, our strategy and our future."

confess i don't hold any tobacco stocks, though for no moral reason
they're certainly good defensively and (i think) with decent yields too

whether one should by BATS or IMT or even both is probably personal choice

in the last year, IMT has easily out-performed BATS, but with BATS just touching 200 dma (southbound) that might be a reason to buy

I trade it fairly frequently. It's quite volatile as the chart shows but can take a quid or two out of it so long as you avoid chasing after a spike..

Interim Management statement http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5324704

i would change the chart above, but MAM can't cope with changed epics so as IMT is now IMB, the chart only goes back a couple of months so difficult to compare

imo, they're both excellent stocks to hold as they perform well and are backed by good divis

StockMarketWire.com
British American Tobacco has outlined plans to merge with its US partner Reynolds in a deal valued at $47bn.

British American Tobacco, which owns 42.2% of Reynolds American Inc, has made a proposal to merge with Reynolds through the acquisition of the remaining 57.8% in the company.

US securities laws require BAT to announce its merger proposal promptly after it was made to the Board of Reynolds.

As a result, BAT has been unable to have prior negotiations with Reynolds regarding the proposal. BAT's proposal values Reynolds at $56.50 per share, of which $24.13 would be in cash and $32.37 would be in BAT shares. This represents a premium of 20% over the closing price of Reynolds common stock on 20 October. BATS says this would create a stronger, truly global tobacco and Next Generation Products company with:

- A leading position in the US tobacco market, the largest global profit pool (ex-China) with strong growth dynamics.

- A significant presence in high growth emerging markets across South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, together with the most attractive developed markets.

- A unique portfolio of strong brands, bringing together ownership of Newport, Kent and Pall Mall.

- Combined Next Generation Products and R&D capabilities to deliver a world class pipeline of vapour and tobacco heating products across all the fastest growing NGP markets globally.

- Creating the world's largest listed tobacco company by net turnover and operating profit.

all aboard if you are not already invested here
ST reports that the company is close to securing a tax rebate of £1.2bn!
that can scarcely be other than a bonus for the shareholders and sp

with no posts from anyone else, i guess you all missed the boat this morning

We are all taking the moral high ground Mr C! ;o)

Good call cynic .

In for the divi at over 2%.

Double post deleted.

A nice rise this afternoon allows me to get out with a small profit and that divi.

Trading statement http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5567097

Half year report http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5602835

BATS + IMB been whacked hard as FDA seeks to cut nicotine levels in cigs to non-addictive levels

Britain's Serious Fraud Office has opened a formal investigation into possible historic misconduct by British American Tobacco in Africa. The FTSE 100 company has been investigating allegations through its law firm and after informing the SFO it reported on Tuesday that the specialist prosecuting authority has now opened a formal investigation!

British American Tobacco
the world's biggest international tobacco company, sees revenue from its "next generation products" doubling to more than 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) next year.

And these products, which include e-cigarettes and devices that heat tobacco without burning it, should exceed revenue of 5 billion pounds by 2022, BAT said on Wednesday.

Although still tiny compared with its traditional cigarette brands like Lucky Strike and Dunhill, the business should break even by the end of 2018 and deliver "substantial profit" by 2022, BAT said ahead of briefings for analysts and investors.

BAT said it is confident about another year of "good" earnings growth at constant currency for the overall company, and at current exchange rates it sees a lift of 6.5 percent on operating profit and 5.5 percent on earnings per share, helped by the weak British pound.

===================

sp +108 this morning (2.2%) at 4931

comparative chart with IMB - can't go back further as IMB used to be IMPS so chart does not recognise

BATS = blue
IMB = red

Director buy //www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6170624

no wonder this solid stock has taken such a battering in recent weeks ....

British American Tobacco on Tuesday lowered its guidance on full-year revenues amid weaker performance in Japan and a product recall in the US.

BAT's said it expected revenue from next-generation products, which include e-cigarettes and tobacco-heating devices, would come in at £900m this year, down from a previous target of £1bn.

'The revision from the previously announced revenue target of £1bn is largely driven by a reduction in planned year-end stocks in Japan as the THP category remains flat and the effect of the Vuse Vibe recall in the US,' the company said.

Industry volume in the US was expected to fall 4.0% to 4.5% this year, the company said.

Full-year earnings, meanwhile, were also lowered owing to currency headwinds.

'Full year adjusted earnings per share growth is expected to be impacted by a currency translation headwind of around 7%, assuming exchange rates remain unchanged for the remainder of the year, the company said.

British American Tobacco updated the market on its trading ahead of its close period on Wednesday, with the board saying it was expecting a full-year industry volume decline of around 3.5%. The FTSE 100 cigarette giant said it was anticipating it would exceed the 5.5% full-year price mix it achieved in 2017, and deliver "good" adjusted revenue and adjusted operating profit growth with a second half weighting. Full -year adjusted earnings per share growth was expected to be impacted by a currency translation headwind of around 6% for the year, at current exchange rates.

for a long time BATS performed very strongly, but both this and IMB have been pretty pathetic for some time

i haven't checked, but i recollect that the yield is pretty good

Dividend info https://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6242921

Chief Executive buy's some https://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6312632