Shares of British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands Plc rose on Friday after the U.S. health regulator exempted menthol and tobacco from a list of popular e-cigarette flavours that it banned under its new guidelines.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said e-cigarette makers will be banned from selling pod-based e-cigarette flavours, including fruit, dessert and mint, in the United States from February.Public health advocates criticized the new guidelines, saying they were not stringent enough and that users will still be attracted to the exempted flavours.
Fears of an outright ban led BAT and Imperial to lower their growth forecasts for their vaping businesses last year.