BATS - ROE

I thought it would be interesting to break down the last 10 years of BATS (British American Tobacco). Presented below is a list of years, together with the median ROE of its last 3 years:

YEAR    ROE%
2003    29.2
2004    32.2
2005    32.2
2006    31.3
2007    31.3
2008    31.3
2009    32.2
2010    37.2

As you can see, BATS has enjoyed high returns on equity, which seem to be getting even better. As you might expect, its share price has done rather well over the period. Over 10 years to 1 Aug 2010, the Footsie returned -17% (dividends excluded), whilst the share price over the same period rose 448% (dividends also excluded). The PER started out at 9, and has since risen to 13. So some of the increase is due to the PER re-rating. Nevertheless, the share price has done well on account of the rising earnings of the company, assisted by the high ROE.