London, Jan 6, 2026, 08:59 GMT — Regular session
- Shares down 0.1% early Tuesday after company reported another share repurchase for cancellation
- Latest buyback covered 146,615 shares bought on Jan. 5, a filing showed
- Investors’ next readout is Feb. 12 full-year results and 2026 outlook
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BATS.L) shares edged down 0.1% to 4,063 pence by 0859 GMT, after the company disclosed another round of share repurchases. The stock has traded between 4,053 pence and 4,076 pence so far in Tuesday’s session, London Stock Exchange data showed.
The routine buyback update matters because BAT’s cash-return story is doing more of the heavy lifting for the equity as investors weigh a tougher backdrop for nicotine alternatives and stricter regulation. With full-year results due next month, traders are watching whether buybacks and dividends keep a floor under the shares into the reporting window.
Sector sentiment has also cooled at the margin. Goldman Sachs downgraded Europe’s food, beverage and tobacco sector to “neutral” from “overweight” in a note on Tuesday, flagging a less supportive backdrop after a strong run for regional equities.
In a stock exchange announcement, BAT said it bought 146,615 ordinary shares on Jan. 5 from UBS, paying a volume-weighted average price of 4,101.3767 pence per share, and plans to cancel them. That puts the day’s repurchases at roughly 6 million pounds at the average price, based on the filing.
BAT set out a 1.3 billion pound share buyback for 2026 when it updated the market in December and reiterated that 2026 performance is expected at the lower end of its mid-term growth range. “Recent Vuse volume and revenue improvement in the U.S. is encouraging,” Chief Executive Tadeu Marroco said at the time. BAT
At Tuesday’s price, a 1.3 billion pound programme equates to about 32 million shares, or roughly 1.5% of the current share count, before execution costs and price swings. Investors focus on the maths because reducing the share count can lift earnings per share — a per-share measure of profit — even when topline growth is modest.
BAT fell 2.9% in the prior session, closing at 40.67 pounds, and remains below its 52-week high of 48.77 pounds, according to MarketWatch data. Monday’s decline left the stock underperforming a firmer broader UK market close.
But the downside case has not gone away. A slower clean-up of illicit vapour products, tougher tax regimes, or additional regulation in key markets can squeeze volumes and force heavier pricing — a lever that works until it doesn’t — just as costs rise to defend newer categories.
