London, Jan 9, 2026, 11:33 GMT — Regular session
- British American Tobacco shares down 0.5% at 3,990p in London trade
- Company disclosed a further 127,066-share buyback for cancellation
- UBS keeps a Buy rating, with a 52-pound target
Shares in British American Tobacco (BATS.L) were down 0.5% at 3,990 pence on Friday after the group disclosed another round of share repurchases. The company said it bought 127,066 shares on Jan. 8 at a volume-weighted average price of 4,004.1873 pence and intends to cancel them, leaving 2,178,773,630 shares in issue excluding treasury stock. The stock has traded between 3,982 and 4,016 pence so far, circling the 4,000-pence level. (London South East)
The constant drip of buyback notices matters because BAT is priced and traded like an income stock. Buybacks — when a company repurchases its own shares — can support earnings per share by shrinking the share count, and they tend to land hardest with investors when growth is murky.
BAT also needs to show its “New Categories” portfolio can pull more weight. That segment covers products such as vaping, heated tobacco and oral nicotine, where volumes and pricing can move faster than in cigarettes.
A regulatory filing showed chief executive Tadeu Marroco and several other senior managers bought four shares each through the company’s partnership share scheme on Jan. 7 at 40.005 pounds per share. (Investegate)
UBS reiterated a Buy rating on BAT with a 52-pound price target, saying the group could return to its mid-term growth targets after a two-year “reset,” according to analyst Faham Baig. UBS expects New Categories sales growth to accelerate to more than 20% in 2026, and said that could lift group organic sales growth — excluding currency swings and portfolio changes — to about 5%, above a 3.2% consensus estimate. Baig said buybacks and lower net finance costs could help deliver 7% constant-currency earnings-per-share growth in 2026, stripping out exchange-rate effects, and allow BAT to “beat and raise” guidance through 2026. (Investing.com UK)
The wider London market was firmer, with the FTSE 100 up about 0.4% earlier, helped by gains in miners and energy, while investors waited for a U.S. jobs report due later on Friday. (Reuters)
Still, the downside case is familiar: tax hikes, tighter regulation and uneven enforcement can squeeze volumes and margins, and the smoke-free push is not a one-way street. If vaping and nicotine pouch momentum cools, or pricing power fades, the stock is left leaning harder on financial engineering.
Next up for investors is the quarterly dividend payment due on Feb. 4, followed by BAT’s full-year results on Feb. 12.
