Tobacco Giant Confident Legal Challenges Are 'Without Merit'

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The number of legal actions faced by tobacco giant BAT has passed its worst, Michael Prideaux, the company's director of corporate and regulatory affairs, said yesterday.

The prediction came as the group showed the impact of the strong pound on its business after pre-tax profits for the first three months of the year slipped three per cent to pounds 454 million. 'The only big outstanding case is the Department of Justice suit against the whole industry. The trial is due to start in September and we are confident the case is utterly without merit,' said Mr Prideaux. The lawsuit, considered to be the biggest in US court history, alleges that the biggest tobacco makers, including BAT and its US unit Brown & Williamson, Altria Group's Philip Morris, and RJ Reynolds, misled the American public by suppressing and destroying documents on the health risks of smoking.

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Tobacco Giant Confident Legal Challenges Are 'Without Merit'

BAT reported an underlying trading profit of pounds 640 million for the three months to March 31, ahead three per cent on th...

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