British American Tobacco plc
BATS:LN
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Overview
Company Profile
Founded in 1902, our company continues to go from strength to strength thanks to market-leading brands, a successful strategy, talented people and our purpose to build A Better Tomorrow™.
Classification
Sector Consumer Staples
Industry Tobacco
Financials
News & Media
Corporate
Board of Directors
Richard Burrows
Chairman
Richard’s executive career has been with Irish Distillers, where he was Chief Executive from 1978 – 2000, and at Pernod Ricard, where he was Co-Chief Executive from 2000 – 2005, based in Paris. His current non-executive roles include Rentokil Initial, Carlsberg A/S, while he was Governor of the Bank of Ireland from 2005 – July 2009. Richard is a member of the Trilateral Commission which fosters closer co-operation among democratic industrialised nations. He served as President of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation from 1998 – 2000, as Chairman of the National Development Corporation from 1984 – 1988 and Chairman of the Scotch Whisky Association 2006 – 2007. Richard, from Dublin, has four children. He is a keen rugby fan although his main passion is sailing.
Christine Morin-Postel
Senior Independant Director
Christine Morin-Postel was appointed to the Board of British American Tobacco p.l.c. as a Non-Executive Director in October 2007. She became Senior Independent Director in April 2013. She is a member of the Nominations and Remuneration Committees and has chaired the Audit Committee since May 2015.
Nicandro Durante
Chief Executive
He originally joined the Board of British American Tobacco p.l.c. as Chief Operating Officer in January 2008 after almost two years in the role of Regional Director for Africa & Middle East. Nicandro was appointed Chief Executive Designate in September 2010. Nicandro, who is Brazilian / Italian, holds degrees in finance, economics and business administration. He joined British American Tobacco’s Brazilian subsidiary Souza Cruz in 1981, after three years working in finance in two Brazilian companies and built a successful finance career. In 1995 he was seconded to the UK head office. In 1997 Nicandro was appointed Finance Director in Hong Kong before returning to Brazil in 2000 as Finance Director for Souza Cruz. In April 2002 he was appointed President of Souza Cruz. Nicandro was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc in December 2013.
Ben Stevens
Finance Director
He was previously Director of British American Tobacco’s Europe region, a position he had held since 2004. Ben was born in 1959 and is a graduate of Manchester University and the Manchester Business School in the UK. He joined British American Tobacco in 1990 as Regional Finance Controller with responsibilities for Europe, East Africa and South Asia and in 1994 moved to Switzerland where he worked in a variety of marketing roles. In 1995 Ben became Chairman and Managing Director of the Pakistan Tobacco Company before being appointed Chairman and Managing Director of British American Tobacco Russia in 1997. In 1998 he returned to the UK as Head of Corporate Affairs for the newly listed British American Tobacco p.l.c. and in the following year was appointed Head of Merger Integration following the merger with Rothmans. He was appointed to the Management Board as Development Director in April 2001 where his responsibilities included corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions and IT. Ben is married with two children.
Karen de Segundo
Non-Executive Director
Karen de Segundo, who retired as CEO Renewables and President Hydrogen of Shell International B.V. in 2005, was appointed to the Board of British American Tobacco p.l.c. as a Non-Executive Director in October 2007. She has chaired the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee since May 2008 and is also a member of the Nominations Committee.
Sue Farr
Non-Executive Director
Sue has over thirty years’ experience in marketing, branding and consumer issues and spent seven years working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as their Director of Marketing and Communications. She is also the former Chairwoman of both The Marketing Society and the Marketing Group of Great Britain. Currently Director of Strategic and Business Development at Chime Communications, the listed provider of communications services, Sue is also a Non-Executive Director of Millennium and Copthorne Hotels plc, Accsys Technologies and Dairy Crest plc, and was previously a Non-Executive Director with New Look, the global fashion retailer. With an extensive career in corporate communications, in both agency and large private and public sector organisations, Sue was voted Advertising Woman of the Year in 1997, a Women in Advertising and Communications, London (WACL) Woman of Achievement in 1998 and awarded The Marketing Society\'s ‘Grand Prix\' in 1998. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Bedfordshire in 2010 in recognition of her services to Marketing and Communications. Sue, who was educated at the University of Reading, lives in London with her husband.
Ann Godbehere
Non-Executive Director
Ann has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry and spent ten years at Swiss Re, latterly as Chief Financial Officer from 2003 to 2007. From 2008 until 2009 she was interim Chief Financial Officer and an Executive Director of Northern Rock in the initial period following its nationalisation. Ann has been a Non-Executive Director of Rio Tinto plc since February 2010. She is also currently a Non-Executive Director of UBS AG and Prudential plc. Commenting on her appointment, Ann said, “I am delighted to be joining the board of British American Tobacco. Many companies describe themselves as being global but BAT is truly global both in its product reach and in its talent management. The company defines itself in its approach to its business, its people and its governance, which translates into excellent performance”. Ann, who is a Canadian national with British citizenship, lives in the UK and with her husband, enjoys collecting Art Deco and gardening. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants Association and a Fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association in Canada.
Dr. Pedro Malan
Non-Executive Director
Pedro has had a distinguished public service career in Brazil, having served as the country’s Finance Minister from 1995 to 2002 and President of the Central Bank of Brazil from August 1993 to year end 1994. From mid-1991 to 1993 he was the Chief External Debt Negotiator. An expert in international macro-economic policy, Pedro is a former Chairman of the Board of the Unibanco bank (2004 – 2008) and continues to sit as Chairman of the International Advisory Board of Itaú Unibanco. Pedro is currently a member of the Boards of utility company EDP - Energias do Brasil (since 2006) and construction and industrial maintenance company Mills Estruturas e Serviços de Engenharia S/A (since 2010). He also served on the Board of Souza Cruz S.A, a subsidiary company of British American Tobacco, until his appointment to the Board of British American Tobacco. Commenting on his appointment, Pedro said: “Having previously served on the Board of Souza Cruz I feel I have learned something about BAT\'s global reach and high standards of governance. I have been enormously impressed by how the Group organises its talent and I’m delighted to be joining the Board.” Pedro holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and a Ph.D in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Brazil.
Savio Kwan
Non-Executive Director
Savio Kwan was appointed to the Board of British American Tobacco p.l.c. as a Non-Executive Director in January 2014. He is a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Nominations Committee.
Dr. Gerard Murphy
Non-Executive Director
Gerry, an Irish national living in the UK, is a member and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Blackstone Group International Partners LLP. He is a Non-Executive Director of Merlin Entertainments plc; and a Board member of Jack Wolfskin and Intertrust Group. Gerry was previously Chief Executive at Kingfisher plc, Carlton Communications plc, Exel plc (formerly NFC plc) and Greencore Group plc. His earlier career included various management roles at Grand Metropolitan plc (now Diageo plc) in Ireland, the UK and the US. His previous non-executive appointments have included Reckitt Benckiser plc, Abbey National plc, Novar plc and PJ Carroll plc, which is now British American Tobacco\'s subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland. Commenting on his appointment, Gerry said: \"I have learned over the years that really great and enduring companies do most things well and in a balanced way. I have been very impressed with the way that British American Tobacco combines an extremely competitive focus on serving its consumers and shareholders with a profound sense of responsibility to its own people and the communities in which it operates and for its long term impact on society generally. Helping to maintain that balance is something really worthwhile and exciting in this world-class business.\" Gerry is married and enjoys the theatre, reading history, watching football (Liverpool) and rugby (Ireland), running, hiking with his wife and scuba-diving with his two sons.
Dimitri Panayotopoulos
Non-Executive Director
Dimitri spent more than 37 years working for consumer goods company Procter & Gamble. He began his career in 1977 as a salesman in the UK and went onto become Vice Chairman and Advisor to the Chairman and CEO before retiring from Procter & Gamble in January 2014. Having worked in many markets across the globe, Dimitri was involved in and led significant breakthrough innovations. He continued to focus on this aspect of the business, speed to market and scale across all of Procter & Gamble’s businesses while Vice Chairman of all Global Business Units. Dimitri has been a Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group, the global management consulting firm, since April 2014 and is a Board member at Logitech International. Commenting on his appointment, Dimitri said: “I am pleased to be a part of BAT, a company that provides brands that are enjoyed by millions of consumers globally, and a Management Team that continues to focus on responsible innovation to meet those consumer needs.\" Born in Tanzania, Dimitri speaks Greek, Swahili, English, French and German. He lives in the Netherlands with his wife and has nine children.
Kieran Poynter
Non-Executive Director
Kieran, a chartered accountant, retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2008 after 37 years with the firm, the last eight as Chairman and Senior Partner. He joined Price Waterhouse as a graduate trainee in 1971 and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1974. Among his achievements was leading the successful integration of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand following their merger in 1998. Other appointments include Non-Executive roles at International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., the global investment bank Nomura International plc and F&C Asset Management plc. Kieran has served on the President’s Committee of the Confederation of British Industry. Kieran, married and a father of four, is a keen Chelsea football supporter. Commenting on his appointment Kieran said he was delighted to be joining one of the world\'s most successful global groups.
Dr. Richard Tubb
Non-Executive Director
Prior to joining British American Tobacco, Dr. Tubb, who grew up on a tobacco farm in south west Wisconsin, was one of the longest serving White House physicians. For over 14 years, he was director of the White House Medical Unit and served under the presidencies of Clinton, Bush and Obama. Dr. Tubb is a leading public health figure actively involved in the science and policy development of tobacco harm reduction and alternative nicotine products. Dr. Tubb is a U.S. citizen and is married with three adult children.