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.

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..