REG - British Amer.Tobacco - BAT and PMI Announce Global Patent Settlement

British American TobaccoAnnouncement

02/02/2024 12:00

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RNS Number : 8921B  British American Tobacco PLC  02 February 2024

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT)

BAT and PMI Announce Global Patent Settlement

2 February 2024

BAT is pleased to announce that it has reached a global settlement with Philip
Morris International Inc (PMI) that resolves all ongoing patent infringement
litigation between the parties related to our heated tobacco and vapour
products.

 

Patent protection is a critical component of the innovation driving BAT's
strategies and the company welcomes this settlement as the best path forward
for its business plans.

 

The settlement includes non-monetary provisions between BAT and PMI that
resolve all ongoing global patent infringement litigation, encompassing all
related injunctions and exclusion orders, and prevents future claims against
current heated tobacco and vapour products.  The settlement also allows each
party to innovate and introduce product iterations.  BAT is committed to
continued innovation in reduced risk products to further advance Tobacco Harm
Reduction.

 

Tadeu Marroco, Chief Executive of BAT, said:

 

"This agreement is an important step forward for BAT and all our
stakeholders.  Having already built two £1bn brands in Vuse and glo, the
potential for their continued impact on Tobacco Harm Reduction is clear.  I
am delighted that this settlement will allow BAT to focus on developing
innovative solutions that provide adult consumers with a greater choice of
reduced risk products in support of our A Better Tomorrow purpose.  By doing
so, we will help build a smokeless world for the benefit of consumers,
investors and society as a whole."

 

A summary of the settlement between the parties will be available on the
website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in our Form 6K filing
to be filed today.  Our SEC filings are available here
(https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1303523&owner=exclude) .

ENDS
Enquiries

Media Centre

+44 (0) 20 7845 2888 (24 hours) | @BATplc (https://twitter.com/BATplc)

Investor Relations

Victoria Buxton: +44 (0)20 7845 2012

Amy Chamberlain: + (0)20 7845 1124

Yetunde Ibe: +44 (0)20 7845 1095

John Harney: +44 (0)20 7845 1263

Jane Henderson: +44 (0) 20 7845 1117

​​​About BAT

BAT is a leading, multi-category consumer goods business with a purpose to
build A Better Tomorrow™ by reducing the health impact of its business
through offering a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products for
adult consumers.

The company continues to be clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious
health risks, and the only way to avoid these risks is not to start or to
quit. BAT encourages those who would otherwise continue to smoke to switch
completely to scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives*†. In
order to deliver this, BAT is transforming into a truly consumer-centric
multi-category consumer products business.

BAT's ambition is to have 50 million consumers of its non-combustible products
by 2030 and to generate £5 billion of New Categories revenue by 2024. BAT has
set stretching ESG targets including achieving carbon neutrality for Scopes 1
& 2 by 2030 and eliminating unnecessary single-use plastic and making all
plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

BAT employs over 50,000 people. The BAT Group generated revenue of £27.65
billion in 2022 and profit from operations of £10.5 billion.

The company's Strategic Portfolio is made up of its global cigarette brands
and a growing range of reduced-risk*† New Category tobacco and nicotine
products and traditional non-combustible tobacco products. These include
vapour, tobacco heated products, modern oral products including tobacco-free
nicotine pouches, as well as traditional oral products such as snus and moist
snuff. In 2022, we had 22.5 million consumers of our non-combustible products,
a rise of 4.2 million on full year 2021.

* Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from
cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.

† Our vapour product Vuse (including Alto, Solo, Ciro and Vibe), and
certain products, including Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, and Camel Snus, which are
sold in the U.S., are subject to FDA regulation and no reduced-risk claims
will be made as to these products without agency clearance.

 

Forward-looking statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements, including
"forward-looking" statements made within the meaning of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are often, but not
always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe,"
"anticipate," "could," "may," "would," "should," "intend," "plan,"
"potential," "predict," "will," "expect," "estimate," "project," "positioned,"
"strategy," "outlook", "target" and similar expressions. These include
statements regarding our customer target ambition, New Categories revenue
targets and our ESG targets.

All such forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions that are
subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors. It is believed that the
expectations reflected in this release are reasonable but they may be affected
by a wide range of variables that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those currently anticipated. A review of the reasons why
actual results and developments may differ materially from the expectations
disclosed or implied within forward-looking statements can be found by
referring to the information contained under the headings "Cautionary
Statement" and "Group Principal Risks " in the 2022 Annual Report and Form
20-F of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT).

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in
BAT's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"),
including the Annual Report on Form 20-F and Current Reports on Form 6-K,
which may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov
and BAT's Annual Reports, which may be obtained free of charge from the BAT
website www.bat.com (http://www.bat.com/) .

Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons needing advice
should consult an independent financial adviser. The forward-looking
statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of
preparation of this release and BAT undertakes no obligation to update or
revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

 

 

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