BTAFF · British American Tobacco p.l.c.

The Chair's address at British American Tobacco's 2026 Annual General Meeting provided a comprehensive update on the company's transformation progress and future outlook. For 2025, the company delivered at the top end of its guidance despite a challenging external environment, with specific highlights including a return to growth in the U.S. market, sustained momentum in combustibles, excellent results from Velo Plus, and a more than 15% year-on-year increase in consumers choosing Smokeless products. The company returned £6.3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buy-backs in 2025, bringing the total to approximately £34 billion since 2020. Looking forward, the company expressed confidence in its mid-term growth algorithm of 3-5% revenue growth, 4-6% adjusted profit from operations growth, and 5-8% adjusted diluted EPS growth, though it expects performance at the lower end of these ranges in 2026 due to time required to stabilize the APMEA region and continued investment in premium innovation roll-outs. The company also expects a translational FX headwind on adjusted diluted EPS in the range of 2% to 3% for both the half-year and full-year. Capital allocation remains disciplined with continued investment in transformation, balancing deleveraging with progressive dividends and sustainable share buy-backs, and selective bolt-on M&A. The company expects to deliver over £50 billion of free cash flow between 2024 and 2030 and to be within its 2-2.5x target leverage range by year-end. All 19 resolutions at the AGM were passed, including director re-elections and various authorities. Board changes include the extension of the Chair's tenure for two more years, the stepping down of Holly Keller Koeppel after nine years of service, and the appointment of Dragos Constantinescu as Chief Financial Officer effective 1 September 2026.