LONDON, January 5, 2026, 09:45 GMT — Regular session
- British American Tobacco shares down 1.3% at 4,133p, lagging a firmer FTSE 100
- Company said it repurchased 132,449 shares on Jan. 2 under its buyback programme and will cancel them
- Focus turns to the group’s preliminary full-year statement due Feb. 12
British American Tobacco p.l.c. shares fell 1.3% to 4,133 pence by 0945 GMT on Monday after the tobacco group disclosed another round of share repurchases.
The buyback matters now because BAT is widely held for cash returns. With rate expectations back in play, investors are weighing how much support repurchases and dividends can offer if bond yields climb.
The stock is trading near the top of its 52-week range, which can make it more sensitive to small shifts in sentiment. BAT’s next scheduled catalyst is its preliminary full-year statement on Feb. 12.
In a regulatory filing, the company said it bought 132,449 shares on Jan. 2 at a volume-weighted average price of 4,171.9564 pence, with trades ranging from 4,104p to 4,204p. A volume-weighted average price is simply the average paid, weighted by the size of each trade.
At that average price, the purchases imply a cost of about 5.5 million pounds. After the shares are cancelled, BAT said it will have 2,179,333,700 shares in issue excluding treasury stock, with 132,988,352 shares held in treasury.
BAT underperformed the broader London market, with the FTSE 100 up 0.3% in early trade. Shares in peer Imperial Brands were down 2.3%, highlighting a weaker tone in the tobacco segment despite a firmer index.
Macro nerves are also shaping flows into yield-heavy equities. “What keeps us awake at night is that inflation risk has resurfaced,” Julius Bendikas, European head of economics and dynamic asset allocation at Mercer, told Reuters.
BAT traded between 4,125p and 4,198p in the session, with traders watching the day’s low as a near-term support level. On the topside, the 4,200p area and the 52-week high of 4,426p are the next markers if the stock rebounds.
But buybacks do not remove the sector’s core uncertainties. Any shift in regulation on nicotine products, an unfavourable swing in litigation, or a sharper move in interest rates could weigh on valuations even as companies shrink share counts.
Next up for investors is BAT’s Feb. 12 preliminary statement, alongside incoming UK data that can move rate expectations, including the Bank of England’s consumer credit and mortgage lending figures for November due later on Monday.
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