Table 1

Profitability (measured using EBITA margin (%)) for Europe's two major tobacco companies and comparator European consumer staple companies

	FY10A	FY11E	FY12E	FY13E
BAT*	0.335	0.353	0.358	0.364
Imperial Tobacco	0.390	0.396	0.396	0.400
Diageo	0.285	0.296	0.304	0.310
Pernod–Ricard	0.257	0.254	0.252	0.256
SAB Miller	0.183	0.195	0.199	0.205
Heineken	0.150	0.158	0.162	0.171
Carlsberg	0.172	0.173	0.178	0.179
C&C Group	0.206	0.190	0.203	0.207
Britvic	0.127	0.116	0.121	0.129
AB Foods	0.090	0.085	0.085	0.088
Danone	0.154	0.147	0.148	0.149
Nestle	0.140	0.137	0.154	0.155
Unilever	0.153	0.154	0.155	0.157
Premier Foods	0.147	0.154	0.157	0.156
Tate and Lyle	0.118	0.117	0.123	0.123
Reckitt Benckiser	0.268	0.259	0.256	0.260
L'Oreal	0.163	0.165	0.169	0.172
Henkel	0.131	0.134	0.139	0.140
Beiersdorf	0.125	0.101	0.117	0.122
Non-Tobacco Average	0.169	0.167	0.172	0.175
Non-Tobacco or alcohol Average	0.147	0.143	0.148	0.150

Source: Various citigroup consumer staples business analyst investment reports.
*Data for BAT is EBIT margin (meaning that it includes the costs of amortisation) which reports a slightly lower level of profitability than equivalent EBITA Margin figures.
A, actual; BAT, British American Tobacco; E, estimate; EBITA, earnings before interest, taxation and amortization; FY, financial year.