LONDON, Jan 26, 2026, 08:27 GMT — Regular session
- British American Tobacco shares were up about 0.4% in early London trade.
- A company notice showed fresh buyback purchases made on Jan. 23.
- Investors are looking ahead to the next dividend payment and full-year results in February.
British American Tobacco shares rose 0.4% to 4,344 pence on Monday, after opening at 4,350 pence and trading between 4,338.3 and 4,363.0 pence, according to Investing.com data.
It’s not a big move, but it keeps attention on one of the stock’s main supports: cash returns. Buybacks shrink the share count, which can lift earnings per share even if profit growth is modest.
The timing also matters. BAT is heading into a reporting window where investors want clearer numbers on its “new categories” push — vapes and nicotine pouches — while cigarettes keep sliding in many markets.
In its latest buyback notice, BAT said it bought 101,395 ordinary shares on Jan. 23, paying between 4,295 pence and 4,339 pence. It put the volume-weighted average price — a trading-day average that weights by the number of shares dealt — at 4,317.3259 pence and said it plans to cancel the repurchased shares.
The company extended its buyback programme by up to £1.3 billion for 2026 and has an agreement with UBS to purchase shares during a “closed period” from Jan. 2 to Feb. 11, when companies typically limit dealing ahead of results. The shares repurchased under the programme are set to be cancelled, an RNS notice showed. Investegate
BAT has already warned that 2026 growth is likely to come in at the lower end of its mid-term targets, citing regulation and fierce competition in the U.S. vape market. CEO Tadeu Marroco said, “I’m trying to be cautious for 2026,” while Rae Maile at Panmure Liberum wrote in a note that the outlook was “perhaps not quite what the share price needed.” Reuters
Income is still central to the pitch. BAT’s board declared an interim dividend of 240.24 pence per share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024, payable in four equal quarterly instalments of 60.06 pence, with the final payment date set for Feb. 4, 2026 for London-listed holders. The company said holders of American depositary shares (ADSs) are due to be paid on Feb. 9.
For some investors, that mix — dividend plus buyback — is enough. For others, the debate is whether the buyback just masks a slower-growth core business.
The risks are familiar and still live: tougher rules on nicotine products, tax pressure that pushes price gaps around, and illegal sales that undercut legal volumes. BAT South Africa, for instance, said this month it would close its only local manufacturing facility and end domestic production by end-2026, blaming fast-growing illicit cigarette trade.
The next hard catalyst is close. BAT’s financial calendar lists its full-year 2025 results for Feb. 12, when investors will focus on 2026 guidance, buyback pace through the closed period, and any update on the U.S. vape backdrop.
