British American Tobacco first-half results helped by weak pound

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - British American Tobacco (Kuala Lumpur: 4162.KL - news) reported higher first-half sales and profits on Thursday, helped by the weak British currency, but also saw declining volume as people continue to smoke less.

The maker of tobacco brands including Dunhill and Lucky Strike said revenue rose 15.7 percent to 7.7 billion pounds ($10.12 billion) in the six months to 30 June. Excluding the gains from a weaker British pound, sales rose 3.5 percent. Cigarette volume fell 5.6 percent.

Adjusted profit rose 15.8 percent to 2.8 billion pounds.

The company said it expected full-year profit growth to be weighted to the second half of the year.

($1 = 0.7612 pounds) (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Edmund Blair)