British American Tobacco (BAT) will write down the value of its US brands by a massive £25 billion as it said the transition to vapes and the macroeconomic environment in its top market both hit cigarette sales.
BAT said it was now assessing the “useful economic life” of US brands like Newport, Natural American Spirit and Don Draper favourite Lucky Strike over 30 years, leading to the eleven-figure impairment charge. Those brands have struggled this year, with market share declining by four percentage points. BAT blamed some of the decline on the rise of “illicit disposable vapes”.
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