BAT boss Nicandro Durante to retire in April 2019
British American Tobacco’s chief executive Nicandro Durante will retire next April after eight years in charge in which he turned BAT into the world’s biggest listed cigarette company.
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BAT said it had identified a preferred candidate to replace Durante and would announce his successor in due course.
Durante joined the cigarette maker in 1981 and worked his way up to CEO in 2011. He led BAT’s $49bn (£37bn) acquisition of Reynolds American in 2018.
The deal combined BAT’s Lucky Strike and Dunhill brands with Reynolds’ Pall Mall and Camel to give BAT a leading position in the US and more capacity for developing e-cigarettes and vapes. Nicandro, who is 62, said Reynolds had been integrated successfully and that the business was in good shape to hand over to his successor.
Richard Burrows, BAT’s chairman, said: “Nicandro was the architect of the current strategy to transform the business and, with the successful establishment of BAT's potentially reduced risk products business and the acquisition of Reynolds, he has created a stronger, truly global tobacco and nicotine business.”
BAT said it had been considering successors to Durante for some time and had singled out a lead candidate to take over.
In July the company reported a fall in pro forma revenue for the first half of the year caused by currency swings and a decline in sales of tobacco heating products. The company said underlying earnings were on track for the full year.
Analysts have been warning of tough times ahead for tobacco companies, however, and the US Food & Drug Administration has been railing against e-cigarettes as youth vaping levels reach "epidemic proportion". Morgan Stanley this week saw several "lingering clouds casting a long shadow", including new rivals such as e-cigarette maker JUUL and new regulation, especially the real risk that the FDA will impose a cut on nicotine to non-addictive levels.