Cigarette Maker BAT Promotes Finance Chief as CEO

British American Tobacco on Monday promoted finance director Tadeu Marroco to be its Chief Executive following the sudden departure of Jack Bowles after four years.

With immediate effect, Marroco, who has worked for the firm for three decades, assumes leadership of BAT, the company that makes Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes.

The announcement was made less than a month after BAT agreed to pay more than $600 million to resolve allegations that it retailed North Korea cigarettes and tobacco products for years in violation of US sanctions.

The demand for traditional tobacco products is declining globally, particularly in Western economies where high pricing, public smoking bans, and health concerns have led customers to turn to alternatives.

“Strong governance needs to be front and centre of Mr. Marroco’s priorities going forward,” noted Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Whilst new categories of tobacco products are a core focus of BAT, these products are also coming under increasing scrutiny as shown by Australia’s decision to ban imports of non-prescription vapes.”

Australia started a broad anti-vaping campaign earlier this month and accused tobacco corporations of intentionally courting adolescents.

Australia will prohibit single-use disposable vapes, stop the importation of non-prescription versions, and place limits on how much nicotine e-cigarettes can contain.

These measures are billed as the nation’s biggest anti-smoking laws in a decade.

Bowles began his tenure as CEO by axing 2,300 positions globally in an effort to boost sales of contentious e-cigarettes.

Prior to that, BAT spent over $50 billion to acquire control of Reynolds American in 2017 in order to gain access to the lucrative US market and it Is rapidly expanding e-cigarette industry.

Following the developments on Monday, BAT shares remained unchanged at $27.12.