British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS) will unwrap fourth-quarter and preliminary full-year results among a throng of blue chips where news of dividends and the outlook for 2023 will be at the forefront of investor attention.
The FTSE 100-listed maker of Kent, Dunhill, Pall Mall and Lucky Strike cigarettes and Vuse vapour and Glo heat-not-burn devices gave a fairly detailed update in December, predicting 2-4% revenue growth on a constant currency basis, with sales volumes down 2% but offset by price increases and market share gains.
Last month the company also said it was streamlining its structure, but did not indicate what sort of financial impact it expected this to have.
Guidance was for a mid-single-digit percentage increase in earnings per share from last year’s 329.6p adjusted EPS. Reported EPS last time was 296p and the dividend was 215.6p per share.
City analysts have forecast 9% growth in turnover to £28bn, with reported EPS forecast to fall to 294p while adjusted EPS climbs 12% to 369p, feeding through to a dividend of 217.8p.
For 2023, analysts have pencilled in revenue rising 4% to a bit over £29bn and adjusted EPS advancing 8% to 399p, with a dividend of 234p and a top-up to the buyback.