British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited (BATBC) paid over Tk 1.0 lakh crore to Bangladesh government as tax during last five years but at the same time it foreign owners most of them US and UK citizens remit over Tk 35,000 crore.

The British multinational tobacco company logged in a profit of about Tk 1,088.6 crore for 2020

The company’s largest shareholder is Capital Research and Management Company, with ownership of 13%, The second and third largest shareholders are BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc., holding 6.9% and 3.5%, respectively. Those investment companies are mostly owns by US citizens while Raleigh Investment Co. Ltd another British company also owns significant share of BTBC. The sponsor-directors own 72.91 per cent stake in the company, while government owns 0.64 per cent, institutional investors 12.04 per cent, foreign investors 11.14 per cent and the general public 3.27 per cent as on January 31, 2021, the DSE data shows.

“The benefits especially netted US and UK people by making Bangladeshi people smoking habits,” Md Zahur Ahmed, an environment lawyer told Business Mirror.

It looks like western people made Bangladeshi people dependent on smoking and suck their hard earned blood years after year, Zahur added.

BATBC contributes almost 8 per cent to the total government revenue from the domestic sector, making it by far the highest taxpayer in Bangladesh.

British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of today, it is the largest tobacco company in the world based on net sales.

BAT has operations in around 180 countries, and its cigarette brands include Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans. Its brands also include Vype and Vuse and Glo.

BAT has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. BAT plc ordinary shares are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Shares.

British American Tobacco logged in its highest profits yet in 2020 as the demand for cigarettes during the outbreak of Covid-19, which mainly affects the respiratory system, has proved resilient.

Last year, the company, whose brands include a mix of high- and low-end brands like Benson & Hedges, John Player, Derby, Hollywood and Pilot, posted a profit of about Tk 1,088.6 crore, up 36.9 per cent year-on-year.

Recently, the £66 billion company revised upwards its annual revenue growth: it now expects revenue to grow at the upper end of the 1 to 3 per cent range it has forecast, after the pandemic delivered a smaller-than-expected blow to the industry. The hit to revenues from the crisis would be roughly 2.5 per cent, down from an earlier estimate of 3 per cent.

Manufactures and markets tobacco products in Bangladesh. The company manufactures and markets its products under the Benson & Hedges, John Player Gold Leaf, Capstan, Star, Royals, Derby, Pilot, and Hollywood brands. The company also offers cigarettes. It also exports its tobacco leafs internationally. The company was formerly known as Bangladesh Tobacco Company Limited and changed its name to British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited in 1998. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited is a subsidiary of Raleigh Investment Co. Ltd.

The company’s tax deposit in the form of value-added tax, supplementary duty and other taxes stood at Tk 22,630 crore in 2019, up 18 per cent on 2018.