LONDON (Reuters) - British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) CEO Tadeu Marroco said on Wednesday that it had received some proceeds from the sale of its Russian and Belarusian businesses, but this was "far away" from their true value.
The maker of Lucky Strike and Camel cigarettes agreed to sell the assets to a consortium led by its Russian local management team in September, ending an 18-month long process to exit the world's fourth-largest cigarette market following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
At the time, BAT did not disclose the sale price or whether the deal included a clause allowing the company to buy back the businesses at a later date.
Marroco told analysts on Wednesday that BAT had taken a "big hit" on the sale.
"We had some proceeds... but overall you cannot lose perspective, that [they were] far away from the real value of the business given the circumstance that the deal was done," he said.
He added that the sale did include a buyback option, but the Russian authorities required this be restricted to two years, making it unlikely BAT would take up the option.
BAT had already recognised 629 million pounds ($792.35 million) in impairments and associated costs related to the sale by the time the deal was announced.
The company also announced a $31.5 billion impairment on some U.S. cigarette brands at its full-year pre-close trading update on Wednesday.
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