(Reuters) -British American Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes, said on Tuesday that its finance chief Soraya Benchikh is stepping down with immediate effect, after about 15 months in the role.

Javed Iqbal, who had previously served as interim finance director from May 2023 to April 2024, will take on the role of interim CFO, while the company looks for a successor.

BAT in July had reported first-half profit ahead of expectations as its U.S. business grew for the first time in three years, a potential turnaround in its largest market as new U.S. tariffs are introduced and consumer preferences shift.

"Now is the right time for me to move on to my next transformation," Benchikh said in a statement.

Benchikh had spent more than two decades at BAT before departing to work in other industries. She returned in May 2024 to take up the chief financial officer role.

Benchikh will remain available to support the transition until the end of the year, BAT said.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)