Stock Spotlight: British American Tobacco sees light in non-combustibles

Pivot from traditional products

Last week, British American Tobacco (BATS) CEO Jack Bowles stepped down and was replaced by group finance director Tadeu Marroco at a time when the group was working to "reinvent" itself with a move away from traditional cigarettes towards non-combustible products, such as vapes.

Bowles' sudden exit came after BATS agreed to pay over $635m to the US as a result of a subsidiary's admission it had conspired to violate sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea, although no official reason was given for his resignation. Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown, warned that Marroco had "a few burning challenges to meet head on" in his new position, arguing that strong governance needed to be "front and centre" of his priorities. Stock Spotlight: No fears of Burberry abandoning UK despite chair's pessimistic comments The new CEO has ...