BAT becomes first FMCG producer to overshoot 1bn-euro market

British American Tobacco (BAT), manufacturer of Kent cigarettes, reported a 4.88 billion-RON (1.15 billion-euro) turnover in 2009 on the Romanian market, overshooting the one billion-euro mark for the first time.
This makes the company the first one to join the "billionaires' club" in the fast moving consumer goods sector, alongside trade chains Metro Cash & Carry and Carrefour.
The Kent producer had an average of 791 employees last year, more or less the same as in 2008.
BAT Romania posted a 3.63 billion-RON (978 million-euro) turnover in 2008. The 35% growth (in RON) recorded last year came amid an increase in the price of the cigarettes in the company's portfolio by an estimated 30% on 2008, amid a doubling of tobacco excises over the course of the year. The last excise hike on tobacco products occurred in early 2010, when the price of a 20-cigarette Kent pack became 50% higher than in the first month of the previous year.
Kent is the best-selling cigarette brand on the Romanian market, with a 25% share at present, as well as the biggest brand on the FMCG market in terms of sales volume.