Share prices at the London-listed tobacco giants have struggled to gain traction for years as the secular decline in the number of cigarette smokers in key markets, an increasingly tough regulatory outlook, and the growth of environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns have combined to dull sentiment.
Since February last year, there has also been the headache of what to do with operations in Russia, the fourth biggest cigarette market globally. British American Tobacco (BATS) confirmed earlier this month that it had agreed a deal to sell its Russian and Belarusian businesses, a move which will remove around 3 per cent of both revenue and adjusted profit from the income statement.