British American Tobacco Plc., Europe’s biggest cigarette maker, won an Australian judge’s approval to pursue a claim that its trademark was infringed by a distributor who covered a label with a health warning. Supreme Court of Victoria Judge Elizabeth Hollingworth today dismissed a request from Trojan Trading Co. to throw the case out. “Trojan makes some very valid criticisms of BAT’s proposed cause of action,” Hollingworth wrote in t ... Jump to full article >>

IDENTICAL twins may hold the key to developing a healthier cigarette, according to scientists at British American Tobacco’s Southampton research lab. The researchers carried out the study comparing the health of siblings – one who smoked and the other who did not – to create “reduced risk” cigarettes. Tests are already under way on smokers who have switched from commercial brands to a BAT prototype and the firm plans to release the res ... Jump to full article >>

British American, the maker of Dunhill cigarettes, Kent, and Lucky Strike cigarettes, said volumes fell in the third quarter as the economic downturn forced smokers to cut back. The world’s second biggest cigarette maker reported a 1pc decline in volumes to 526bn, with Europe, the US, Africa and the Middle East hardest hit. Organic volumes were 3pc lower than last year as a result of market size declines and an increase in illicit trade ... Jump to full article >>

British American Tobacco Plc plans to sell new bonds next week as part of a plan to reduce its refinancing risk by repurchasing as much as 1.75 billion euros ($2.2 billion) of debt due in 2011 and 2012, the company said. BAT, Europe’s second-largest cigarette maker, is offering to tender 750 million euros of 3.625 percent notes due in 2012 and 1 billion euros of 4.375 percent debt due in 2011, according to two statements released today. The te ... Jump to full article >>

The government is under strong pressure to postpone the implementation of the tobacco display ban in England after all three of the UK’s largest tobacco manufacturers and a group of campaigning independent retailers in Leicestershire launched legal challenges. The action by the UK’s largest tobacco manufacturers – JTI, Imperial Tobacco and BAT – could take more than six months to resolve and, should it succeed in changing the requirement ... Jump to full article >>

Last June delegates of many governments met in Swiss City of Geneva to consider the first universal convention on illegal tobacco trade. Next month the same governments will gather again to endorse the first draft of that convention that is supposed to become a powerful tool in the struggle against the black market of tobacco products. If the convention is ratified, it would virtually crack down the illegal trade throughout the world. Tobacco pr ... Jump to full article >>

British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco, the FTSE cigarette manufacturers, have warned that the Government risks shooting itself in the foot with its plans to regulate the industry. The FTSE companies backed Government plans to crack down on tobacco smuggling but warned that the illicit trade would be boosted by proposals to remove branding from cigarette packets. Imperial Tobacco called the proposal a “counterfeiter’s charter ... Jump to full article >>

THE ink on yesterday’s Business Day was barely dry when I was asked this morning via e-mail, how I would rate the shares of British American Tobacco (BAT) as a long-term investment if the company was not in tobacco, but, say, in retail. “It seems to me,” the reader goes on, “that you don’t like BAT because you’re antismoking. Your view on the share is subjective. As you keep on saying, look at its investment fundamentals. That’s wh ... Jump to full article >>