British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) has announced that after nearly 37 years with the company, and eight years as CEO, Nicandro Durante has informed the Board of his intention to retire on 1 April 2019.
Richard Burrows, Chairman of BAT, said: “Nicandro has been an outstanding Chief Executive. He was the architect of the current strategy to transform the business and, with the successful establishment of BAT's potentially reduced risk products business and the acquisition of Reynolds American Inc., he has created a stronger, truly global tobacco and nicotine business. Through this period of great change, Nicandro has substantially grown the business, delivering consistent strong growth in both earnings and dividends during his tenure.
“On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Nicandro for his exceptional leadership, as a result of which BAT is now better placed than ever to continue to deliver long term sustainable growth for our shareholders.”
Nicandro Durante said: “It has been a privilege to have led such a great company for the last eight years. We now have a growing potentially reduced risk product business fully embedded in our organisation and the integration of Reynolds has been successfully completed. I shall stay in place for the next six months to ensure an orderly handover to my successor.”
The Board has been considering successors for some time and, having reviewed a strong list of internal and external candidates over the past few months, it has identified a lead candidate to succeed Nicandro. The Company will make a further announcement in due course.