KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- British American Tobacco (M) Bhd's pre-tax profit for financial year ended Dec 31, 2015 rose to RM1.23 billion from RM1.21 billion in the same period of 2014.
Revenue, however, fell to RM4.58 billion from RM4.79 billion previously.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, the pre-tax profit rose to RM272.55 million from RM265.94 million in the same quarter last year.
Revenue declined to RM1.05 billion from RM1.2 billion previously.
In a statement Wednesday, Managing Director, Stefano Clini, said the group registered a domestic volume contraction of 13.5 per cent in the face of falling legal consumption in 2015 versus 2014.
"This is mainly a consequence of the overall softer demand among consumers due to the weaker market sentiments after the implementation of the goods and services tax and the impact of the unprecedented November 2015 excise increase," he said.
The company closed the year with 62.1 per cent share of the market, up 0.9 per cent versus the same period in 2014, he said.
He said illegal cigarette trade continued to jeopardise revenue collection given its impact on legal volumes.
"Nonetheless, we remain encouraged by the concerted efforts undertaken by various law enforcement agencies, in particular the Royal Malaysian Customs for its unwavering commitment towards addressing the illegal cigarette trade," he said.
Clini said despite the challenging economic climate, the group managed to record a marginal 0.5 per cent increase in profit from operations," he said.
The outlook for 2016 would be impacted by the excise increase in November last year and the recovery of the legal market will depend on enforcement efforts to reduce the high illegal cigarette incidence, he said.
The board has declared a fourth interim dividend of 78 sen per share.
BAT rose 18 sen to close at RM56.08 on Bursa Malaysia yesterday.
-- BERNAMA
Source: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/bu/newsbusiness.php?id=1216538
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