PRESS RELEASE
06 AUGUST 2026
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (“BAT” or the “Company”)
BAT Announces Management Board Changes
Luciano Comin will step down from his role as Chief Marketing Officer and from the Management Board on 28 February 2027, concluding a distinguished 34-year career with the Group. When he leaves, Luciano will have been a member of the Management Board for eight years, including three as Chief Marketing Officer.
Pascale Meulemeester will succeed Luciano as Chief Marketing Officer. Pascale is currently Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA). Pascale will be appointed as Chief Marketing Officer Designate with effect from 1 January 2027 and will assume the role of Chief Marketing Officer on 1 March 2027, continuing as a member of the Management Board throughout.
Celina Li will join BAT with effect from 1 September 2026 as Regional Director Designate, APMEA, and will become Regional Director, APMEA and a member of the Management Board with effect from 1 January 2027.
Celina is currently Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager, International & Ingredients at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., a global agricultural cooperative where she is a member of the Executive Leadership Team. Prior to joining Ocean Spray in 2021, Celina spent five years at The Coca-Cola Company where she held several senior roles, including Vice President and General Manager, Water and Vice President, Strategy. She previously held a number of roles at Anheuser-Busch InBev and The Procter & Gamble Company. She began her career with Bain & Company.
Commenting on the changes, Chief Executive, Tadeu Marroco, said:
“Luciano has made a significant contribution to BAT over the course of his lengthy career. Most recently Luciano has played a critical role in advancing BAT's transformation through strengthening our brand, innovation and consumer-focused capabilities. He leaves BAT with our sincerest gratitude and I wish him and his family all the very best for the future.
“I look forward to working with Pascale as she succeeds Luciano as Chief Marketing Officer. Since joining BAT, Pascale has made a strong contribution to the Management Board. Through her leadership of the APMEA Region she has demonstrated deep expertise in building brands at scale, a strong understanding of evolving consumer trends and preferences and how these combine to deliver quality growth. These qualities, combined with her general management experience and people leadership strength, make her ideally suited to lead our marketing function as we continue to deliver our strategic transformation.
"I am also delighted to welcome Celina to BAT. Celina brings international leadership experience and a proven track record of driving growth in consumer businesses. She has successfully led large-scale business transformations, delivered sustainable revenue growth and strengthened profitability across businesses in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Her strategic insight, commercial acumen and consumer focus will be key assets as we continue to strengthen our business across APMEA.”
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Forward-looking statements
TThis release contains certain forward-looking statements, including "forward-looking" statements made within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe," "anticipate," "could," "may," "would," "should," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "will," "expect," "estimate," "project," "positioned," "strategy," "outlook", "target", “being confident” and similar expressions. These include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, amongst other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the economic and business circumstances occurring from time to time in the countries and markets in which the Group operates. In particular, these forward-looking statements include, among other statements, statements regarding our customer target ambitions for Smokeless Products by 2030, revenue targets for Smokeless Products by 2035 and our sustainability targets.
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Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in BAT's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the 2025 Annual Report on Form 20-F and Current Reports on Form 6-K, which may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov and BAT’s Annual Reports, which may be obtained free of charge from the BAT website www.bat.com.
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