British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON: BATS) finished Tuesday’s London session firmly higher, extending its strong 2025 recovery and keeping the tobacco giant near the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard.
At the close on 25 November 2025, BATS shares were quoted around 4,314p, up 118p (+2.81%) on the day, with trading volume just under 4 million shares. That puts the stock only a few percent below its 52‑week high of 4,400p and well above its January low near 2,838p. [1]
The move came as:
- BAT reported another day of share buybacks, confirming the purchase of 130,000 shares on 24 November under its ongoing repurchase programme. [2]
- Income investors remained focused on a dividend yield a little above 5.5% on the UK line, supported by quarterly payouts. [3]
- The wider FTSE 100 advanced about 0.8% to around 9,609, helped by rate‑cut hopes and UK budget expectations – but British American Tobacco comfortably outperformed the index. [4]
Below is a detailed look at today’s British American Tobacco share price, the latest corporate news dated 25 November 2025, and what it all means for investors watching BATS in London and BTI in New York.
1. British American Tobacco (BATS) Share Price Snapshot – 25 November 2025
LSE close (BATS.L) [5]
- Closing price: 4,314p (about £43.14 per share)
- Daily move: +118p (+2.81%) versus Monday’s close of 4,196p
- Intraday range:
- Open: 4,160p
- High: 4,318p
- Low: 4,160p
- Volume: ~3,977,300 shares
- Bid / Ask at close: 4,305p / 4,307p
- Previous close (24 Nov 2025): 4,196p
Key valuation and return metrics (London) [6]
- Market capitalisation: ~£93.8 billion
- Shares in issue: ~2.18 billion ordinary shares
- 52‑week range:
- Low: 2,838p (15 January 2025)
- High: 4,400p (21 August 2025)
- 12‑month performance: various data providers put the 1‑year share price gain around 45–55%, reflecting a sharp re‑rating from early‑2025 lows.
- Dividend (trailing): c. 239–240p per share, implying a yield of roughly 5.5–5.7% at today’s close (exact figure varies slightly by source and FX assumptions).
Taken together, today’s close leaves British American Tobacco trading near the top of its 52‑week range, but still a couple of percentage points below its August high, giving bulls some room to argue there is upside left in the current rally. [7]
2. BTI ADR: Wall Street Follows London Higher
For investors who track the New York–listed ADR, British American Tobacco PLC ADR (NYSE: BTI) also traded strongly on 25 November 2025.
Intraday US data show: [8]
- BTI price (mid‑session / late session): around $56.7–$56.8
- Daily move: roughly +3.6% versus Monday’s close near $54.8
- Day’s trading range: approximately $56.1 – $56.9
- Volume: just under 3 million ADRs
- 52‑week range (US): about $34.8 – $59.3
- Implied market cap: roughly $115–120 billion, up more than 50% year‑on‑year according to several US data providers.
The ADR therefore mirrors the London line: near the upper end of its 52‑week band, with a dividend yield just above 5% on US estimates. [9]
3. Fresh RNS Today: Another “Transaction in Own Shares”
The main company‑specific news dated 25 November 2025 is a new regulatory announcement titled “Transaction in Own Shares”, confirming further progress in British American Tobacco’s share buyback programme. [10]
According to the RNS (also released into South Africa’s SENS system and other feeds): [11]
- Date of purchase: 24 November 2025
- Number of ordinary shares bought: 130,000
- Price details:
- Highest price paid: 4,270p
- Lowest price paid: 4,209p
- Volume‑weighted average price: about 4,239.18p per share
- Purpose: BAT states that it intends to cancel the purchased shares.
- Post‑cancellation share count:
- Ordinary shares in issue (excluding treasury): ~2,182,075,365
- Treasury shares held: ~132,998,061
This transaction is part of a larger capital‑return strategy that has seen BAT: [12]
- Complete a €806.8 million buyback of hybrid securities in late October.
- Trigger a “Substantial Repurchase Event” and announce the redemption of remaining perpetual subordinated notes.
- Continue day‑by‑day on‑market repurchases of its own equity under a programme funded in part by the partial sale of its long‑held stake in Indian conglomerate ITC earlier in 2025.
For equity investors, repeated “Transaction in Own Shares” notices and bond buybacks send a clear signal: BAT is aggressively returning capital while also simplifying and de‑risking its balance sheet, a combination that typically supports both valuation and shareholder returns.
4. How BATS Performed vs the FTSE 100 Today
The broader UK market backdrop on 25 November 2025 was positive:
- The FTSE 100 climbed about 0.8% to around 9,609, lifted by expectations of another US Federal Reserve rate cut and anticipation ahead of UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s upcoming budget. [13]
Against that context, British American Tobacco’s +2.81% gain represents clear outperformance versus the index. [14]
The rally also follows a strong year‑to‑date run, with recent coverage noting that BAT’s share price has surged more than 50% over the past 12 months, even after minor pullbacks in the last week. [15]
In other words, today’s move is another step in a longer re‑rating trend rather than an isolated spike.
5. Dividend and Valuation Snapshot: Why Income Investors Still Care
One reason British American Tobacco keeps showing up in income‑focused research and commentary is simple: cash returns.
Dividend profile
- On 13 February 2025, BAT announced an interim dividend of 240.24p per share for the year ended 31 December 2024, paid in four quarterly instalments of 60.06p in May, August, November 2025 and February 2026. [16]
- Based on today’s 4,314p closing price, that payout corresponds to a forward yield of roughly 5.5–5.7%, depending on whose numbers you use. [17]
UK‑focused outlets continue to highlight British American Tobacco as one of the FTSE’s stand‑out high‑yield stocks with a long dividend track record, often grouping it with other defensive cash‑gushers in lists of income ideas. [18]
Valuation context
- London South East data put BATS on a price/earnings (P/E) multiple of around 31.6x, though this can be skewed by accounting items and the tobacco sector’s heavy non‑cash charges. [19]
- US sites tracking BTI on the NYSE flag a dividend yield around 5.2% and a consensus “Hold” rating, with analysts expecting mid‑single‑digit earnings growth in the coming year. [20]
The combination of high yield, buybacks and modest growth has been enough to attract investors back to a sector still wrestling with long‑term volume decline and regulatory risk.
6. Fundamentals and Headwinds: What the Latest Updates Say
Half‑year 2025 results: guidance intact
In its half‑year 2025 report, BAT: [21]
- Reported revenue down about 2.2% on a reported basis but up around 1.8% at constant FX, helped by a return to growth in key markets and momentum in its Velo oral nicotine brand.
- Reaffirmed full‑year guidance, signalling management confidence in earnings and cash flow despite currency headwinds and ongoing investment in “New Categories”.
Those numbers underpin the current dividend and buyback policy that investors are reacting to in late 2025.
Emerging‑market tax pressure in Bangladesh
Not all of today’s BAT‑related headlines are about capital returns. A Bangladeshi business press report dated 25 November 2025 highlights how higher tobacco taxes are pressuring margins at BAT Bangladesh Company (BATBC), BAT’s local listed unit. [22]
Key points from that article:
- Among 13 multinational companies on the Dhaka stock exchange, BATBC generated the highest revenue, about Tk 9,468 crore in the July–September period, up roughly 11% year‑on‑year.
- However, the group’s profitability came under pressure because of big increases in tobacco‑related VAT, duties and other taxes – the company paid over Tk 8,000 crore in taxes, up sharply from the prior year.
This illustrates a recurring theme in BAT’s investment case: strong top‑line growth in developing markets can be heavily offset by fiscal and regulatory tightening, which investors must price into long‑term expectations.
Litigation and ESG backdrop
Earlier in 2025, British American Tobacco was hit with a US class‑action lawsuit over marketing claims that one of its Vuse vape products was “carbon neutral”. [23]
While there have been no fresh court developments reported today, that case feeds into broader ESG concerns around:
- The credibility of “green” marketing in tobacco and vaping.
- The risk of damages, settlements or tighter marketing rules in key markets.
Those factors help explain why, even after a sharp share‑price rebound, some analysts and investors still treat BAT as a value‑with‑risk rather than a straightforward defensive.
7. Sector & Management News Dated 25 November 2025
Two additional 25 November 2025 news items connect back to British American Tobacco and the wider nicotine ecosystem:
- Organigram names ex‑BAT strategist as CEO
- Canadian cannabis producer Organigram Global Inc. announced that James Yamanaka, formerly Global Head of Strategy at British American Tobacco, has been appointed its next Chief Executive Officer, effective around 15 January 2026. [24]
- Yamanaka spent more than 20 years at BAT, holding senior roles in strategy and regional leadership across Europe and Asia.
- The move underlines how BAT’s New Category and reduced‑risk experience is influencing leadership pipelines across adjacent industries like cannabis.
- Income‑stock commentary keeps tobacco in focus
- UK and global income‑investing commentary published in the last 24–48 hours continues to highlight tobacco majors, including BAT, as high‑yield plays, often comparing them with peer Altria and others in “quality dividend” round‑ups. [25]
While these items don’t directly move the BATS share price intraday, they support the broader narrative of BAT as a high‑yield, cash‑generative group whose strategic talent is in demand beyond traditional tobacco.
8. Why BATS Moved Today – A Quick Interpretation
Putting the pieces together, today’s 2.8% rise in the British American Tobacco share price looks driven by a mix of factors:
- Technical momentum and relative strength
- BATS has been in a strong uptrend for much of 2025, with several outlets highlighting a 40–50% 12‑month surge and growing institutional interest. [26]
- A broadly positive market session in the FTSE 100 provided a favourable backdrop.
- Ongoing buybacks and capital returns
- Fresh confirmation of 130,000 shares bought back and earmarked for cancellation on 24 November adds to the sense of share count reduction and EPS support, reinforcing the investment case for income and total‑return investors. [27]
- Attractive income story vs. low rates
- With a 5.5–6% dividend yield and quarterly payments already scheduled into early 2026, BAT continues to appeal to investors seeking equity income in a world where bond yields are no longer surging higher. [28]
- Fundamentals solid but not spectacular
- Half‑year results showed modest constant‑currency growth and reaffirmed guidance, which, combined with debt reduction and hybrid bond buybacks, help support confidence in those dividends and buybacks. [29]
There are still real risks – ranging from litigation and ESG scrutiny to tax pressure in markets like Bangladesh and long‑term declines in combustible volumes – but today’s tape action suggests the market remains more focused on cash returns and buyback‑driven EPS accretion than on those longer‑term headwinds, at least for now. [30]
9. What Investors Will Watch Next
Looking beyond today’s 25 November 2025 close, investors following British American Tobacco’s share price are likely to focus on:
- Upcoming dividend dates, including the February 2026 quarterly payment, which completes the 240.24p distribution for the 2024 financial year. [31]
- The full‑year 2025 results and 2026 guidance, where markets will want to see:
- Continued progress in “New Category” products (vapes, heated tobacco, oral nicotine).
- Evidence that emerging‑market tax and regulatory pressures can be managed without eroding margins too severely. [32]
- Any further RNS announcements on share buybacks, bond redemptions or stake disposals, which could influence both leverage and the pace of capital returns. [33]
Final note
All prices and statistics above relate to 25 November 2025 and are based on widely used delayed data feeds; intraday numbers may differ slightly between providers. This article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors should consider their own objectives and risk tolerance, and, if necessary, seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BATS / BTI).
References
1. www.lse.co.uk, 2. www.sharenet.co.za, 3. www.bat.com, 4. www.tradingview.com, 5. www.lse.co.uk, 6. www.lse.co.uk, 7. www.lse.co.uk, 8. www.investing.com, 9. www.marketbeat.com, 10. www.tradingview.com, 11. www.sharenet.co.za, 12. www.investing.com, 13. www.tradingview.com, 14. www.lse.co.uk, 15. finance.yahoo.com, 16. www.bat.com, 17. www.lse.co.uk, 18. global.morningstar.com, 19. www.lse.co.uk, 20. www.marketbeat.com, 21. www.bat.com, 22. dailynewnation.com, 23. www.thebureauinvestigates.com, 24. www.businesswire.com, 25. markets.financialcontent.com, 26. finance.yahoo.com, 27. www.sharenet.co.za, 28. www.bat.com, 29. www.bat.com, 30. dailynewnation.com, 31. www.bat.com, 32. www.bat.com, 33. www.investing.com
