BAT cigarette brands to cost more

by **Cals** Tue 09 Sep 2014, 02:26

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Kang Siew Li of theedgemalaysia.com

Monday, 08 September 2014 09:39

KUALA LUMPUR: British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT Malaysia) has announced that it will increase prices of all its cigarette brands from today.

According to a statement yesterday, the tobacco company said the price of a pack of 20s will go up by RM1 to RM13 for Dunhill, Benson & Hedges and Kent. The price of Lucky Strike and Rothmans brands will also increase to RM13.50 a pack, while the Peter Stuyvesant and Pall Mall cigarette range will increase by RM1 as well to RM11.50 for a pack.

“The operating environment is very challenging with costs to produce and distribute each stick of cigarette escalating due to mounting inflationary cost pressure,” said BAT Malaysia managing director Stefano Clini in the statement.

“This is amplified by progressive loss of legal domestic volumes over the years to illegal trade, decline in contract manufacturing volumes, and an overall very competitive trade and distribution channels,” he said.

When contacted by The Edge Financial Daily yesterday, a JT International Bhd (JTI Malaysia) spokesman said the company is not in a position to comment on the pricing decisions of other companies.

“The prices of our products Mevius, Winston, Salem and Camel remain unchanged,” the spokesman added, when asked whether JTI Malaysia will follow suit in increasing prices of its cigarettes.

Shares in BAT Malaysia closed down two sen to RM71.30 last Friday, with 306,200 shares done.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 8, 2014.