Japan Tobacco May Raise Dividends to Narrow Gap With Rivals

Japan Tobacco Inc., the world’s third-biggest publicly traded cigarette maker, may raise its dividend payout target to trim gaps with rivals including Philip Morris International Inc. and British American Tobacco Plc.

“We’re obviously behind them,” Executive Deputy President Masakazu Shimizu said in an Oct. 12 interview. The company may raise the target ratio from the current 30 percent of profit in the year beginning April 1, 2012, he said.