British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco's revenue fell 1.0% to £25.6 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 39.0%, up from 10.6% a year earlier. Free cash flow was £5.8 billion, down 39.9%. It paid out £6.3 billion in dividends and buybacks, 110% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 1.2%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 3.8% a year and net income 5.9% a year.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 2.8 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 3.8 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 39.7 | 43.1 | 39.7 | 37.0 | 35.1 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 36.8 | 39.7 | 35.1 | 31.7 | 31.2 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Debt to equity | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.8x | 0.8x | 0.8x |
| Interest coverage | 7.1x | 6.6x | −8.8x | 1.6x | 6.0x |
| Current ratio | 0.8x | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.8x | 0.9x |
| Quick ratio | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.6x |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | 5 of 8 | 6 of 8 | 6 of 8 |
| Accruals ratio | −18.4% | −5.9% | 1.2% |
Compare
Put British American Tobacco side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British American Tobacco | FY25 | −1.0% | 39.0% | 22.6% | 9.8% | — | 6 | |
| Altria | FY25 | −3.1% | 42.5% | 39.0% | 39.2% | 2.1x | 7 | Compare |
| Philip Morris International | FY25 | 7.3% | 36.6% | 26.2% | 35.4% | 2.6x | 7 | Compare |
| Universal | FY26 | −1.3% | 5.8% | 2.8% | 4.0% | 3.8x | 5 | Compare |
| Kraft Heinz | FY25 | −3.5% | −18.7% | 14.7% | −5.8% | — | 4 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 14.1 | 19.6 | 24.5 | 25.9 | 25.8 | 25.7 | 27.7 | 27.3 | 25.9 | 25.6 |
| Revenue growth | 7.8% | 38.5% | 25.2% | 5.7% | −0.4% | −0.4% | 7.7% | −1.4% | −5.2% | −1.0% |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Operating income | 4.7 | 6.4 | 9.3 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.2 | 10.5 | −15.8 | 2.7 | 10.0 |
| Net income | 4.6 | 37.5 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 6.7 | −14.4 | 3.1 | 7.8 |
| Diluted EPS (GBP) | 2.49 | 18.28 | 2.63 | 2.49 | 2.79 | 2.96 | 2.92 | −6.47 | 1.36 | 3.49 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | — | — | 2,292 | 2,291 | 2,295 | 2,297 | 2,267 | 2,229 | 2,225 | 2,199 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 4.6 | 5.3 | 10.3 | 9.0 | 9.8 | 9.7 | 10.4 | 10.7 | 10.1 | 6.3 |
| Capital expenditure | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Free cash flow | 4.0 | 4.6 | 9.5 | 8.3 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 9.6 | 5.8 |
| Dividends paid | 2.9 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Share buybacks | 4.8 | 4.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Acquisitions | 0.0 | 17.7 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 2.2 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 3.8 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 19.5 | 49.5 | 47.5 | 45.4 | 44.0 | 39.7 | 43.1 | 39.7 | 37.0 | 35.1 |
| Total assets | 39.8 | 141.0 | 146.3 | 141.0 | 137.7 | 137.4 | 153.5 | 118.7 | 118.9 | 109.3 |
| Total liabilities | 31.4 | 80.1 | 80.7 | 76.8 | 74.7 | 70.0 | 77.8 | 65.8 | 68.9 | 61.1 |
| Shareholders' equity | 8.2 | 60.8 | 65.4 | 63.9 | 62.7 | 65.4 | 73.7 | 50.9 | 48.0 | 46.0 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 32.9% | 32.8% | 38.0% | 34.8% | 38.6% | 39.9% | 38.0% | −57.7% | 10.6% | 39.0% |
| Net margin | 32.9% | 191.6% | 24.6% | 22.0% | 24.8% | 26.5% | 24.1% | −52.7% | 11.9% | 30.3% |
| Free cash flow margin | 28.5% | 23.3% | 38.9% | 32.2% | 36.0% | 35.8% | 35.7% | 37.6% | 37.3% | 22.6% |
| Return on capital | — | 9.7% | 6.4% | 6.1% | 7.2% | 7.5% | 7.0% | −12.2% | 2.9% | 9.8% |
| Return on equity | — | 108.7% | 9.6% | 8.8% | 10.1% | 10.6% | 9.6% | −23.1% | 6.2% | 16.5% |
| Return on assets | — | 41.5% | 4.2% | 4.0% | 4.6% | 5.0% | 4.6% | −10.6% | 2.6% | 6.8% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | 4.8x | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |