BRITISH American Tobacco (BTI, BAT) reported higher profits on Thursday despite a continued drop in group cigarette volumes.Operating profit rose 13.6% to £5.2bn at constant rates of exchange or 0.2% to £4.6bn at current rates of exchange compared with the year-earlier period.Group cigarette volumes were down 0.5% to 663-billion against an estimated industry decline of 2.3%. Total tobacco volume was 0.8% lower than the previous year. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) climbed to 209.8 pence from 169.1p in the year-earlier period.The company proposed a final dividend of 104.6p per share subject to shareholder approval at the annual general meeting on April 27 2016.BAT chairman Richard Burrows said the group experienced an excellent year in 2015."Led by growth across all of our global drive brands, the group delivered another year of very good revenue and profit growth at constant rates of exchange. Despite significant currency headwinds impacting reported results, the excellent under...
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