British American Tobacco (BAT) maintained its position as industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the 11th year running, achieving an overall score of 88%. The indices are drawn up after robust and highly detailed analysis of companies' economic, environmental and social performance, with a strong focus on their ability to maintain long-term shareholder value. In 2012, more than 1,500 companies were assessed with only 340 making the grade to the World Index.

This year British American Tobacco exceeded its own business measure target, published in the Group's Annual Report and Accounts, by scoring better than the sector average in all categories and achieving the best scores for the industry in 13 of the 20 categories. In six categories BAT achieved a score of 100%. The Group also scored 93% in the new Supply Chain Management section, a great achievement for the Operations function.

DJSI is recognised as the most important investment rating for sustainability performance due to its comprehensive methodology and wide take up by institutional investors seeking to keep the risk associated with less sustainable business models out of their investment portfolios. Inclusion in the index is therefore testament to how well BAT manages its business.

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