Reynolds parent company BAT maintains fiscal 2026 profit, revenue guidance

Continuing gains in smokeless products' revenue and market share in the United States has British American Tobacco Plc on pace to meet fiscal 2026 financial guidance, the manufacturer disclosed Tuesday.

BAT is the parent company of Reynolds American Inc., which has about 2,200 employees in Forsyth County and about 4,300 companywide.

BAT's first-half 2026 update maintains a 3% to 5% overall growth projection for the full year, although tilting toward the lower end of the range.

Bolstering the potential overall gain is BAT's expectation of mid-teens revenue growth from $3.18 billion in fiscal 2025 out of its next-generation product portfolio.

Those products include its top-selling U.S. and global electronic cigarette brand Vuse of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., fast-growing Velo Plus nicotine and synthetic nicotine pouches, and its glo heated traditional cigarettes that's not available in the U.S.

BAT's overall fiscal 2025 revenue was $34.97 billion, with U.S. revenue representing $16.25 billion. Overall operating profit for fiscal 2025 was $8.93 billion.

The manufacturer continues to project a 4% to 6% range in overall profit, as well as 5% to 8% growth range in diluted earnings per share.

"I am pleased that our full-year delivery remains firmly on track," BAT chief executive Tadeu Marroco said in a news release. "We are continuing to drive good momentum, and are confident in our ability to sustainably deliver our mid-term algorithm and strong cash returns for shareholders."

Marroco said the U.S. market - by far BAT's largest global market - continues to demonstrate "the strength of our multi-category portfolio and enhanced commercial execution" involving traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.

Marroco said BAT is prepping to benefit from expected new Food and Drug Administration guidance on vaping and other smokeless products, particularly in regulatory approval for adding flavorings beyond tobacco and menthol.

"We welcome the FDA's recent prioritization guidance as an important step toward effective enforcement and expanding market access for responsible products, and we are actively preparing our future modern oral and vapor portfolio for market," Marroco said.

"We continue to prioritize investment in our most profitable value pools, driving strong contribution growth."

However, for heated cigarettes, Marroco said BAT has "proactively streamlined our commercial footprint to drive further scale in glo Hilo in priority markets, while also initiating a platform reset with Hyper Pro Plus in the value segment."

Marroco added that BAT is "closely monitoring developments in the Middle East. While there is no significant impact on the group at this time, the broader macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop is dynamic, increasing the risk of volatility in consumer sentiment should uncertainty persist."

Reynolds is in the early stages of nearly doubling its local workforce from 2,200 to 4,200 by 2030, foremost to accommodate surging adult consumer demand for its synthetic Velo Plus nicotine pouches.

Hiring has exceeded 300 over the past five months. Reynolds said the 2,000-job pledge represents direct and indirect jobs at the plant. By the end of 2027, the workforce is projected to be split evenly with a tilt likely toward smokeless products compared with traditional cigarettes.

BAT reported that at the end of 2025, it had 34.1 million consumers of smokeless products, up 16% or by 4.7 million from the end of 2024.

Meanwhile, the U.S. electronic cigarette sector has been hamstrung in recent years by the surge of unregulated Chinese imported products available at retail stores.

Industry analysts have said those unregulated products have between 50% and 60% of the U.S. market.

Reynolds Vapor, along with competitor Philip Morris USA, have been imploring and prodding the FDA and other Trump administration regulatory agencies to crack down on the unregulated products.

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 8:53 PM.