British American Tobacco (BAT) CEO Nicandro Durante received a 37% pay increase to £11.4m, the cigarette company’s annual report for 2017 released on Thursday showed.
Chief financial officer Ben Stevens received a 35% pay increase to £6.6m.
BAT’s share price fell as much as 5.3% to R634.50 following the release of the report.
The acquisition of US tobacco group Reynolds American helped BAT grow its revenue 38% to more than £20bn in 2017.
What the group has traditionally referred to as its "global drive brands" — Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans — will be expanded to a "strategic portfolio" that includes "next-generation products" encompassing vapour, and chewing tobacco.
"In the US, American Snuff Company’s volume of moist snuff was 228-million cans in the period since the acquisition of Reynolds American. Total moist market share was up 100 basis points on 2016 to 34.4%, primarily due to Grizzly, a leading US moist snuff brand, benefiting from its strength in the pouch and wintergreen categories, as well as the recent national expansion of its Dark Select style," BAT said in its annual report.
BAT said its "local and international brands" — which include Peter Stuyvesant, Craven A, Benson & Hedges, and John Player Gold Leaf — suffered a 13.4% sales decline in 2017.
"Although experiencing a slow overall decline, our local and international brands continue to play an important role in delivering the group’s strategy in several key markets, including Brazil, SA, Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan."
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