P.M. BRIEFING : Beleaguered BAT Gains by 38%
LONDON — BAT Industries PLC, the British conglomerate fighting a takeover bid from Sir James Goldsmith’s Hoylake Investments Ltd., today reported a 38% jump in profits during 1989.
The results were helped by record earnings from the group’s tobacco interests and a near doubling of profits at its financial services division.
BAT said last year’s net income totaled $2.07 billion, compared with $1.5 billion in 1988. The latest results included a $197-million one-time gain from restructurings.
Annual sales increased 25% to $35 billion from $28 billion.
BAT Chairman Patrick Sheehy described the results as excellent in light of the “distractions forced on us by Hoylake.”
The $21-billion Hoylake bid has been suspended while U.S. state insurance regulators review the effect a change of ownership would have on BAT’s Farmers Insurance Group Inc. of Los Angeles.
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