British American Tobacco on Monday promoted finance director Tadeu Marroco to be its chief executive following the sudden departure of Jack Bowles after four years.
Marroco, who has spent three decades at the company, takes the helm with immediate effect at BAT, maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes.
The announcement comes less than a month after BAT agreed to pay more than $600 million to settle charges it sold cigarette materials to North Korea for years in violation of US sanctions.
The global tobacco industry meanwhile faces falling demand for traditional tobacco products, especially in Western markets, where high taxes, public smoking bans and health worries have persuaded consumers to turn to alternatives.
“Strong governance needs to be front and centre of Mr Marroco’s priorities going forward,” noted Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Whilst new categories of tobacco products are a core focus of BAT, these products are also coming under increasing scrutiny as shown by Australia’s decision to ban imports of non-prescription vapes.”
Australia earlier this month announced a sweeping crackdown on vaping, accusing tobacco companies of deliberately targeting teenagers.
Billed as the country’s largest anti-smoking reforms in a decade, Australia will ban single-use disposable vapes, halt imports of non-prescription versions, and restrict how much nicotine e-cigarettes may contain.
Bowles started his time as CEO by cutting 2,300 jobs worldwide, as he sought to drive revenues in controversial e-cigarettes.
Before then, in 2017, BAT paid almost $50 billion for control of Reynolds American to target the lucrative US market and its fast-growing e-cigarette sector.
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