Key Points
- Stock Price Drop: BAT Malaysia's stock dropped 15.25% following the third-quarter report, falling to RM4.78 (approximately $1.02 USD).
- Sharp Profit Decline: Net profit for Q3 dropped to RM7 million (approximately $150,000 USD), a 89.5% decrease year-on-year.
- Revenue Halved: Revenue fell to RM300 million (approximately $6.4 million USD), half of last year's figure.
- Regulatory Pressures: New regulations, including pictorial health warnings and retail display bans, led to significant operational adjustments and investments.
2Firsts, October 31, 2025 — British American Tobacco Malaysia (BAT Malaysia) reported a sharp drop in its third-quarter results, with net profit plunging to RM7 million (approximately $150,000 USD), down 89.5% from RM67 million (approximately $1.42 million USD) in the same period last year. Revenue also dropped significantly to RM300 million (approximately $6.4 million USD), compared to RM609 million (approximately $1.3 million USD) in 2024.
The company attributed the poor performance to new regulatory requirements, including the implementation of pictorial health warnings and the retail display ban, which led to significant operational adjustments and heavy investments.
After the third-quarter report was released, BAT Malaysia's stock price plummeted by 15.25%, reaching RM4.78 (approximately $1.02 USD) as of 11:47 AM on October 31.
Despite these challenges, BAT Malaysia's year-to-date cumulative revenue reached RM1.25 billion (approximately $268 million USD), thanks to ongoing cost optimization efforts. Its premium brand Dunhill continued to strengthen its market share, maintaining its leadership in the legal tobacco segment.
The company also announced that the board would pay a third interim dividend of 5 sen per share (approximately 1.1 cents), totaling RM14.3 million (approximately $3 million USD), payable on December 5, 2025.
BAT Malaysia's Managing Director, Nedal Salem, stated that despite regulatory pressures and declining market volumes, the company remained resilient due to its core combustibles portfolio. He also expressed optimism about the fiscal initiatives announced under Budget 2026, which are expected to increase disposable income and support household consumption. BAT Malaysia will continue to focus on optimizing its portfolio and ensuring long-term sustainability.
On April 28, BAT Malaysia announced that it would phase out its existing VUSE e-cigarette products from the Malaysian market, in accordance with the Public Health Control of Smoking Products Act 852, which will come into effect on October 1, 2025. As part of this transition, BAT plans to phase out the VUSE product line by the third quarter of 2025 to comply with the new regulatory requirements.
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