Major Tobacco Companies Back Bulgaria's Excise Policies

Leading international companies - Philip Morris, Bulgartabac Holding, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Tobacco - have expressed their support for Bulgarian government's excise policies.

The general managers of Philip Morris Bulgaria, Bulgartabac Holding, British American Tobacco Bulgaria, Japan Tobacco International Bulgaria and Imperial Tobacco Bulgaria met Wednesday with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, and Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov, and Angel Antonov, head of the Criminal Police Directorate.

BAT stubs out crisis fears as buyback plan resumes

Lucky Strike maker British American Tobacco has resumed a share buyback programme worth £750million after full-year profits were boosted by price hikes and the weak pound.

The world’s second biggest cigarette firm restarted the scheme, which was suspended in 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis, after seeing free cash flow increase by 23 per cent to £3.2billion. But investors were disappointed by the scale of the buyback, sending the shares down 56.18p to 2356.82p.