Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- British American Tobacco Plc’s Kenyan unit posted a 22 percent increase in full-year profit, helped by increased sales of the leaf on contract and “prudent cost control.”

Net income climbed to 1.7 billion shillings ($21.3 million) in the 12 months through December, from 1.39 billion shillings a year earlier, Nairobi-based British American Tobacco Kenya Ltd. said in a statement published in the Daily Nation newspaper today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 26, 2009 23:53 EST