British American Tobacco CFO Soraya Benchikh Resigns After 15 Months

Soraya Benchikh, CFO of British American Tobacco, has stepped down after 15 months. Javed Iqbal will serve as interim CFO, returning to the role he previously held. The company is currently seeking a permanent replacement for Benchikh.

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) has announced that Soraya Benchikh, the company's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is stepping down from her role and the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Benchikh rejoined BAT in May 2024 and will remain available to support the transition until December 31, 2025 [2].

Javed Iqbal, currently Director of Digital and Information, will serve as interim CFO. Iqbal previously held the position of Interim Finance Director from May 2023 until April 2024. BAT is launching a recruitment process to identify a permanent successor to Benchikh [2].

CEO Tadeu Marroco acknowledged Benchikh’s contributions to the company, noting that BAT’s performance in the first half of the year was slightly ahead of expectations and that the company remains on track to meet its full-year guidance [2].

In her statement, Benchikh highlighted her role in "embedding financial discipline and putting New Categories on a path to accretive margins and sustainable profitability" during her tenure [2].

BAT, which employs more than 48,000 people, reported revenue of £25.9 billion in 2024, with an adjusted profit from operations of £11.9 billion. The company aims to have 50 million adult consumers of its smokeless products by 2030 and generate 50% of its revenue from these products by 2035 [2].

The company plans to provide an update on its progress in a pre-close trading update in December.

References:
[1] https://www.marketscreener.com/news/british-american-tobacco-p-l-c-announces-soraya-benchikh-stepping-down-as-from-the-board-of-directo-ce7c50d9d888f22d
[2] https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/bat-cfo-soraya-benchikh-steps-down-javed-iqbal-named-interim-93CH-4210135