Finance
Lucky Strike maker BAT's finance chief steps down in surprise move
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
BAT's CFO Soraya Benchikh resigns unexpectedly, impacting shares and strategy. Javed Iqbal steps in as interim CFO amid strong financial performance.
By Yadarisa Shabong
(Reuters) -British American Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes, said on Tuesday that its finance chief Soraya Benchikh is stepping down with immediate effect, after about 15 months in the role.
Shares in the FTSE 100 company, which gained more than 80% during Benchikh's tenure, fell as much as 2.8% in early trade.
BAT in July reported first-half profit ahead of expectations as its U.S. business grew for the first time in three years, a potential turnaround in its largest market as new U.S. tariffs are introduced and consumer preferences shift.
"This is an unfortunate turn of events given that (Benchikh) had made a generally good impression to date," said analysts at Panmure Liberum.
JPMorgan analysts said the change in CFO was "unexpected", with investors welcoming BAT's improved financial discipline and the resumption of share buybacks.
Benchikh had spent more than two decades at BAT before departing to work in other industries. She returned in May 2024 to take up the chief financial officer role.
"Now is the right time for me to move on to my next transformation," said Benchikh, who will remain available to support the transition until the end of the year.
Javed Iqbal will take on the role of interim CFO, a post he held previously from May 2023 to April 2024.
"With the right strategy we intend to continue to deliver on the profitable transformation of BAT," CEO Tadeu Marroco said in a statement.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Kirsten Donovan)
A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a senior executive responsible for managing the financial actions of a company, including financial planning, risk management, record-keeping, and financial reporting.
Financial growth refers to an increase in a company's profits, revenues, or overall financial performance over a specific period, often measured by metrics such as revenue growth rate or profit margins.
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