KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 17): British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT Malaysia) has reverted back the prices of all its cigarette brands to that before April 1, effective today.

In a statement today, the the country’s largest tobacco company by market share said the decision to revert to prices before April 1 was made to remain competitive given the market situation. 

BAT Malaysia (fundamental: 1.35; valuation: 1.7) had earlier increased prices of all its cigarette brands by 50 sen in line with the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST).

"Despite the challenges, we will continue to produce high quality products for our discerning consumers. We sincerely apologise to our business partners and consumers for any inconvenience caused to date and any potential technical delay in reflecting our revised prices in retail over the next few days given system changes needed by retailers,” said BAT Malaysia managing director Stefano Clini in the statement. 

Following the price revision, the price of a pack of 20s for Dunhill, Kent and Benson & Hedges will retail at RM 13.50 (from RM14).

The price of Peter Stuyvesant and Pall Mall brands is RM12 a pack (from RM12.50), while Lucky Strike Plain's range will sell at RM14 (from RM14.50).

Shares in BAT Malaysia fell 40 sen or 0.59% at RM67.88 today, bringing a market capitalisation of RM19.5 billion. 

(Notes: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)