eBusiness Weekly
British American Tobacco Zimbabwe Limited (BAT Zimbabwe) is the biggest tobacco manufacturing company in Zimbabwe by market share.
It is part of the British American Tobacco Group (BAT Group), one of the world’s leading tobacco processing and marketing companies and has been operating in Zimbabwe for over 80 years.
BAT is a leading, multi-category consumer goods business. Founded in 1902, today the group is a truly global company and it employs more than 53 000 people worldwide, operates in over 180 markets and has factories in more than 40 countries.
The group’s global business is divided into four regions and covers over 150 million consumers and 11 million retail points of sale, with a balanced presence in both high-growth emerging markets and developed markets.
BAT’s portfolio comprises combustible tobacco products, such as cigarettes, alongside a range of non-combustible products.
These include New Categories of potentially reduced-risk products — vapour and tobacco heating products and modern oral products, including tobacco-free nicotine pouches — as well as traditional oral products, such as snus and moist snuff.
The Group’s headquarters are in London and the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2019, the group generated revenue of £25,8 billion and profit from operations of more than £9 billion.
BAT Zimbabwe is a company incorporated in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe and listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
BAT Zimbabwe manufactures and supplies cigarettes to approximately 6,600 retailers and wholesalers, who in turn service thousands of informal traders across the country .
The Zimbabwean group’s managing director Kimesh Naidoo is a qualified chartered accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). He has over 11 years’ experience in cross-functional management, financial management, audit, sales and distribution in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry.
Naidoo holds an Honours Bachelor’s Degree of Accounting (B.Acc.) in Accounting, Taxation, Auditing and Management Accounting from the University of Natal (Durban) and has worked in various companies including KPMG South Africa and Standard Bank.
BAT Zimbabwe’s revenue grew by $538.3 million to close the first six months of the current financial year at $1,4 billion from $848.3 million in 2020 translating to a 63 percent growth. Operating profit in the period under review surged by 140 percent to $315.2 million compared to the same period last year.
According to BAT, the increase in revenue was driven mainly by three factors encompassing price increases implemented during the period under review, export of cut rag tobacco, and the earlier mentioned increase in volume uptake.
