Soraya Benchikh is to step down from her role as CFO of British American Tobacco (BAT) with effect from August 26, the company said on Tuesday.
She would remain available to support the transition until the end of December, BAT said. The company said it was launching a recruitment process to identify a permanent successor to the role of CFO.
Javed Iqbal, who is currently director of digital and information, will take on the role of interim CFO. Iqbal acted as the company’s interim finance director from May 2023 until April 2024.
“I am proud of my role in the significant progress since I joined BAT, as reflected in our recent results. Further embedding financial discipline and putting New Categories on a path to accretive margins and sustainable profitability have been key contributions to that progress,” said Benchikh.
“As we set out at our recent results, our performance in the first half of the year was slightly ahead of our expectations, and we are firmly on track to deliver our full-year guidance,” said CEO Tadeu Marroco
“With the right strategy we intend to continue to deliver on the profitable transformation of BAT, reflected in our stated ambitions for 2026 and beyond. We will update on our continued progress in our pre-close trading update in December,” he said.
The CFO’s departure is the latest change at top level for BAT. A month ago, it named a new regional director for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (Apmea).
Michael Dijanosic stepped down from that role and BAT said Pascale Meulemeester would join the group with effect from September 1, initially as regional director designate for Apmea and would take over Dijanosic’s role in January 2026.
Meulemeester is currently president of Western Europe at Barry Callebaut Group, a global chocolate and cocoa organisation, where she is a member of the executive leadership team, responsible for leading Barry Callebaut Group’s largest business segment and driving strategic initiatives across the region.
BAT, whose brands include Lucky Strike, Rothmans, Dunhill and Kent, reported an increase in its first-half earnings, which were driven by a recovery in its US operations and growth in its smokeless business, despite facing foreign exchange headwinds.
The company said adjusted diluted earnings per share, excluding Canada, for the six months to end-June rose 1.7% at constant exchange rates thanks to improved operating performance and cost discipline.
Group revenue declined 2.2% to £12.07bn on a reported basis due to currency pressures, but rose 1.8% at constant exchange rates. Profit from operations increased 19.1% to £5.07bn, helped by a favourable adjustment to the Canadian litigation provision.
With Nompilo Goba
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