British American Tobacco Reports H1 2026 Results with New Categories Growth

The Tip Desk · July 30, 2026 · 2 min read

Revenue rose 1.4% to £12.2 billion as smokeless products increased their share of group revenue to 19.8%.

British American Tobacco reported reported revenue of £12,235 million for the six months ended 30 June 2026, an increase of 1.4%. On a constant currency basis, revenue grew 2.9%, supported by an 8.5% increase in the U.S. and resilience in Americas and Europe (AME), though offset by a 6.3% decline in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA).

Smokeless products now account for 19.8% of Group revenue, up 1.6 percentage points compared to FY25. New Categories revenue grew 18.0% on a constant currency basis, driven by a 65.9% increase in Modern Oral [2, 16]. Vapour revenue returned to growth with a 5.3% increase, while Heated Products (HP) revenue fell 11.7%. Combustibles revenue rose 2.1%, driven by price and mix.

Reported profit from operations decreased 15.8% to £4,266 million, with the reported operating margin falling 7.1 percentage points to 34.9% [2, 15]. This decline was partly due to a prior-year credit related to a Canadian settlement provision. Adjusted profit from operations increased 3.5% to £5,319 million (adjusted for Canada), and reported diluted EPS fell 28.6% to 145.3p [2, 15].

Net cash generated from operating activities rose 47.3% to £3,402 million [13, 15]. The company's share buy-back programme is on track for £1.3 billion in 2026.

Looking forward, the company expects FY26 adjusted diluted EPS to be toward the middle of its 5-8% guidance range. BAT anticipates mid-teens New Categories revenue growth for the full year 2026 [12, 16]. The company also expects to be within a leverage target range of 2.0-2.5x adjusted net debt/adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2026 [6, 13].