BAT Hit by Heated-Tobacco Slowdown as Japan Growth Stalls

British American Tobacco Plc said the rapid growth of tobacco-heating products in Japan has slowed, adding to doubts that the category can offset the decline in traditional cigarettes. Market share gains of BAT’s Glo device have stalled over the last seven weeks, after the tobacco-heating product hit a 4.3 percent share of Japan’s tobacco market during its first six months on sale, the London-based company said Tuesday. The outlook for next-generation products had become cloudier after Philip Morris International Inc. said in April that it was struggling to persuade older Japanese smokers to switch to its heated-tobacco device, iQOS.