(Bloomberg) -- Switching British American Tobacco Plc’s listing from London to New York would create a lot of internal distraction, Chief Executive Officer Tadeu Marroco told the Financial Times.

In an interview published on Sunday, Marroco said he was unsure that the benefit of moving BAT’s listing out of the UK stock market would be as clear as some people have suggested.

Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of GQG Partners Rajiv Jain, a major investor in BAT, last year called on the cigarette maker to move its primary listing to New York. Jain then told the FT it made no sense for BAT to remain listed in London and the core ownership base of BAT had disappeared from the UK.

Marroco, who became CEO in May, said there were advantages to investors of keeping the listing in the UK despite the London Stock Exchange struggling to attract and retain flagship companies.

Shareholders of German travel operator TUI AG have recently voted to delist from the LSE and move trading to Frankfurt. Meanwhile, Ryanair Holdings Plc delisted from London in 2021, citing Brexit compliance problems and Arm Holdings Plc chose to list in New York.

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