Demerara Tobacco Company Limited

What it is

DEMTOCO was established in Guyana in 1934 and went public in 1960, making shares available to local investors. In 1997 it stopped making cigarettes entirely — production was transferred to the West Indian Tobacco Company in Trinidad — and today it is purely a marketing and distribution operation, selling British American Tobacco brands in Guyana.

That asset-light model — buy finished cigarettes from a BAT affiliate, sell them on to Guyanese consumers — is what drives the remarkable margins. In the first half of 2024 alone, revenue reached GYD 2.7 billion (~USD 13 million) and gross profit was GYD 1.7 billion (US$8 mn).

Who owns it

Seventy percent of DEMTOCO’s shares are held by British American Tobacco International Holdings (UK) Limited, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco plc of the UK. The remaining 30% is a free float traded on the Guyana Stock Exchange — modest in dollar terms but representing some of the most coveted shares in the country.

The company is considered one of the most profitable on the Guyanese Stock Exchange and is well respected across the business community in Guyana. For the London parent, Guyana is a small outpost; for Georgetown investors, DTC is as close to a blue chip as the local market offers.

Who runs it

Vijay Singh is Managing Director, appointed to the board in February 2020. He brought to the role his background as Trade Marketing and Distribution Manager for BAT’s interests across the English-, Dutch-, and French-speaking Caribbean.

The board is chaired by Kathryn Anne Abdulla, an attorney, who was appointed Chairman in April 2020 and also serves as Caribbean Head of Legal and Company Secretary at the West Indian Tobacco Company Limited. In that dual capacity, she provides strategic direction across some 24 Caribbean markets.

No separate CFO is disclosed in available sources.

The money, in plain words

In its most recent full audited year, 2023, after-tax profit rose 9.7% to GYD 2.27 billion (~USD 10.9 million), up from GYD 2.07 billion (US$10 mn) in 2022, driven by a 4.4% increase in revenue. Because DEMTOCO does no manufacturing, its costs are thin — it keeps roughly 47 cents of every dollar it collects in revenue as net profit, a net margin that few businesses anywhere in the world match.

Shareholders are paid generously and regularly: the company proposed a final dividend of GYD 19.83 (US$0.10)per share for 2024, bringing total dividends paid for that year to GYD 105.75 (US$0.51)per share. At the current share price of GYD 3,000, (US$14)that is a dividend yield of roughly 3.5% — respectable on its own, but the real attraction is the compounding over decades.

The share price itself trades at approximately 29.5 times annual earnings (a price-to-earnings ratio of ~29.5×, our calculation), reflecting the market’s confidence in a company that has raised its dividend in most recent years.

What it is doing now

H1 2024 brought a speed-bump: Chairman Abdulla noted that the profit registered for the first half was down 5.6% over the same period a year earlier. The drag was a surge in illegally traded cigarettes flooding the market, which negatively impacted sales volumes for the period.

Despite that, the full-year 2024 dividend of GYD 105.75 (US$0.51)per share — up from GYD 97.40 (US$0.47)in 2023 — signals that the full-year result recovered.

On the brand side, Dunhill delivered volume growth of 9.5% for a third consecutive year, and the company migrated its older Bristol brand to the globally recognised Lucky Strike to sharpen its portfolio. The 92nd AGM was held in April 2026; 2025 total dividends of GYD 122.85 (US$0.59)per share — up 16% from 2024 — point to continued earnings momentum.

What to watch

• Illicit trade: The market share of illicit cigarettes in Guyana has risen to an estimated 29%, representing a 100% increase in just one year. If enforcement does not tighten, volumes — and profits — face structural pressure.
• Dividend trajectory: Total dividends grew from GYD 97.40 (US$0.47)(2023) to GYD 105.75 (US$0.51)(2024) to GYD 122.85 (US$0.59)(2025), a rising staircase investors will watch for any break.
• BAT parent risk: With 70% of the company controlled by London, any strategic pivot — brand rationalisation, corporate restructuring, or regulatory pressure on tobacco globally — flows directly to Georgetown.
• Guyana’s oil boom: Rising incomes and a fast-growing consumer class could lift volumes, but a wealthier government also has more resources to enforce tobacco control or raise excise taxes.

This is news, not investment advice.