Lucky Strike maker BAT brings back former executive to fill CFO role

April 9 (Reuters) - British American Tobacco BATS.L named Dragos Constantinescu as its chief financial officer on Thursday, bringing back a former executive who had spent 16 years at the tobacco giant before moving to Asahi Breweries, Japan's largest brewer.

The appointment follows the abrupt departure of BAT’s former finance head Soraya Benchikh in August last year after only about 15 months in the role, an exit analysts described as unexpected.

The Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarette maker's Digital & Information director Javed Iqbal has served as interim finance chief since and will return to his previous role when Constantinescu joins on September 1.

BAT shares were up 1.3% at 4,483 pence in early trade.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE - A KEY ASSET

Constantinescu, a 46-year-old Romanian, held senior finance and general management roles in his previous stint with BAT, including general manager for Central Europe North and finance director and general manager for BAT Poland.

Currently, the chief of Asahi Europe & International, he has been with Asahi Breweries - best known for its flagship Super Dry beer and part of Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings 2502.T - since 2019, holding various senior leadership roles across Europe.

BAT has been pivoting its business away from traditional cigarettes towards smokeless products. It reported higher annual profit in February as its Velo nicotine pouch gained U.S. market share and sales of newer products picked up.

CEO Tadeu Marroco on Thursday said Constantinescu's international experience and understanding of the company would be "key assets" as BAT focuses on quality growth and the delivery of its mid-term growth targets.

Constantinescu will join the company with a base salary of 820,000 pounds ($1.10 million) per annum.

($1 = 0.7472 pounds)