Tesco (TSCO) Extends £1.45bn Buyback as Shares Hover Near Highs

London, 26 November 2025 — Tesco PLC (LON: TSCO) has kicked off the week’s trading with another sizeable share repurchase, a raft of community and sustainability initiatives, and continued analyst optimism as the FTSE 100 supermarket group heads into the crucial Christmas period.

Today’s news flow around Tesco spans capital returns, management share dealings, charity partnerships and festive promotions, giving investors plenty to digest.

Today’s Tesco headlines at a glance

1. Fresh RNS: c. £21.7m of shares bought back

This morning Tesco confirmed it bought 4,871,697 ordinary shares on 25 November under its ongoing £1.45bn share buyback programme.
The shares were purchased at an average price of 445.67p, with a high of 448.50p and a low of 441.30p, via Citigroup Global Markets. ^[1]
All shares will be cancelled, reducing the share count to 6,442,346,770 shares in issue and leaving Tesco with no treasury shares. ^[2]

2. Buyback now more than 80% complete

Since the programme’s “Commencement RNS” on 10 April 2025, Tesco has repurchased 294.5m shares at a total cost of about £1.194bn, roughly 82% of the planned £1.45bn. ^[3]
On that basis, Tesco has quietly retired just over 4% of its share capital in a little over seven months.

3. Management still buying via incentive plans

A separate regulatory filing yesterday detailed share purchases for senior executives under Tesco’s Share Incentive Plan and Dividend Reinvestment Plan, including CEO Ken Murphy and CFO Imran Nawaz, who both added to their holdings on 21 November at around £4.53 a share. ^[4]

4. Tesco share price today

Tesco’s own share-price feed showed the stock trading around 445p this afternoon, down slightly on the day but still close to recent highs and valuing the group at about £28.7bn. ^[5]
Longer-term data suggest the Tesco share price is up roughly 25–30% over the last year, with one recent analysis noting it has more than doubled over five years. ^[6]

5. New partnerships and brand news on 26 November

Tesco & Cancer Research UK: Tesco has joined forces with Cancer Research UK to help customers spot cancer symptoms earlier, using its national store and media reach to promote awareness. ^[7]
Tesco Ireland: In Ireland, the retailer has launched a Christmas food collection to support families in need, working with food charity partners to gather donations in stores from today. ^[8]
Tesco Mobile: A fresh review from Expert Reviews published today again calls Tesco Mobile a standout “supermarket own‑brand” network, highlighting award‑winning customer service, strong reliability and free EU roaming, with the main drawback being below‑average speeds. ^[9]
Christmas pop‑ups: Separate coverage notes Tesco is rolling out around 165 festive pop‑up events offering free food and drink, with the promotion beginning in-store from 26 November. ^[10]

6. Ex‑Tesco leadership moves

Away from the stock itself, former Tesco UK boss Matthew Barnes has been appointed president of Foot Locker International, overseeing the footwear chain’s operations across Europe, Asia and Australia — a reminder of Tesco’s influence as a training ground for global retail leaders. ^[11]

Buyback RNS: another £21.7m off the share count

This morning’s “Transaction in Own Shares” announcement is part of Tesco’s third tranche of a £1.45bn buyback unveiled in April, which runs through April 2026. ^[12]

Key numbers from today’s filing:

Shares bought: 4,871,697
Average price: 445.67p
Estimated cash outlay: just over £21.7m
Shares in issue after cancellation: 6,442,346,770

The company also confirmed that, since April, it has bought back:

294,494,992 shares
For a total of £1,194.3m

Based on these figures, Tesco has reduced its share count by roughly 4.4% since the current programme began — a meaningful tailwind for earnings per share (EPS) and dividend per share over time, assuming profits hold up. ^[13]

A Morningstar summary last week noted that Tesco completed an earlier tranche on 5 November and has now begun a £350m third tranche, underscoring management’s commitment to using surplus cash to buy back stock at current levels. ^[14]

Capital returns, dividends and guidance: the Tesco equity story

Today’s buyback update sits on top of a solid set of half‑year results and an upgraded profit outlook.

In its H1 2025/26 interim results on 2 October, Tesco reported: ^[15]

Group sales: £33.1bn, up 5.1% at constant currency
Adjusted operating profit: £1.67bn, up 1.6%
Free cash flow: £1.3bn, up 2.9%
UK online sales: up 11.4%
Tesco Whoosh (rapid delivery) sales: up 59%
UK grocery market share: around 28.4%, its highest since 2016

On the back of that, Tesco raised its full‑year adjusted operating profit guidance to £2.9–£3.1bn for 2025/26, up from an earlier £2.7–£3.0bn range. ^[16]

The group also announced an interim dividend of 4.80p per share, up nearly 13% year‑on‑year, and has indicated that the interim will continue to be set at 35% of the prior year’s full‑year dividend. ^[17]

With the trailing dividend yield a little above 3% and hundreds of millions still earmarked for buybacks, Tesco is clearly positioning itself as a reliable income and capital‑return story within the FTSE 100. ^[18]

How the market and analysts are reacting

Despite today’s modest dip, Tesco’s share price remains near multi‑year highs:

Internal and third‑party price data suggest November’s average price is around 448–450p, up from roughly 357p a year ago. ^[19]
Recent investment articles put Tesco’s 12‑month total return in the high‑20s to low‑30s percent, with some noting the share price has more than doubled over five years. ^[20]

On the sell‑side:

A Swiss bank referenced in a Proactive Investors report today has raised its earnings forecasts for Tesco’s 2026 and 2027 financial years and believes there is scope for further guidance upgrades if trading stays strong into Christmas. ^[21]
Consensus analysis collated by Simply Wall St shows analysts lifting their price targets from £4.00 to around £4.50 per share, with some valuation models suggesting a fair value close to £4.70, implying the stock is still modestly undervalued even after its 2025 rally. ^[22]

In short, today’s buyback is not a game‑changing surprise, but it reinforces a narrative that many analysts already like: steady profit growth, disciplined pricing, and aggressive capital returns.

Beyond the numbers: farm data, health partnerships and festive goodwill

Alongside shareholder returns, Tesco has been busy on the sustainability and community fronts in the run‑up to Christmas — much of which feeds into the brand and, ultimately, the long‑term investment case.

1. Pushing for a national farm‑data framework

In mid‑November Tesco launched a significantly expanded Sustainable Farming Programme, investing over £1.5m to help around 360 British beef and lamb farmers collect detailed data on soil, water and biodiversity. ^[23]

At the same time, the retailer publicly called for a national framework on farm data to bolster UK food security, arguing that inconsistent standards make it hard for farmers to track progress or access the right incentives.

Key points from coverage of the initiative: ^[24]

91% of farmers surveyed want more government support to build resilience.
96% cite inconsistent environmental standards and data reporting as a major barrier.
Tesco’s programme aims to create clear baseline measurements over 12 months, giving farmers tailored advice on resilience and sustainability.

For investors, this matters because it ties Tesco’s supply‑chain security and ESG credentials directly to data‑driven agriculture, an area likely to receive more regulatory and consumer attention in the years ahead.

2. Cancer Research UK partnership

New today, Tesco has teamed up with Cancer Research UK on a nationwide campaign to help shoppers recognise early signs and symptoms of cancer, using instore materials and communications to nudge people towards earlier diagnosis. ^[25]

While the immediate impact on sales is hard to quantify, such partnerships deepen Tesco’s role in public health and reinforce its positioning as a community‑minded national grocer, which can be important in an era of heightened scrutiny on big retailers.

3. Tesco Ireland’s Christmas food collection

In Ireland, Tesco has kicked off a Christmas food collection aimed at supporting families in need, working with local partners such as FoodCloud to distribute donations gathered in stores. ^[26]

This builds on Tesco’s long‑running efforts with food‑redistribution charities and supports the group’s claims of tackling food waste and food insecurity simultaneously.

4. 165 festive pop‑ups and “winter warmer” moments

An Eco‑focused outlet recently reported that Tesco is running 165 Christmas pop‑up experiences across the UK, offering free festive food and drink from 26 November as part of a push to “spread Christmas joy” amid the cost‑of‑living squeeze. ^[27]

These events may not move the profit dial, but they support footfall, brand warmth and social‑media visibility at the most competitive time of the retail year.

5. Tesco Mobile’s reputation boost

Finally, today’s Expert Reviews piece on Tesco Mobile is another small but telling data point. The review praises the network for: ^[28]

Excellent customer service
Strong scores for reliability and customer satisfaction
Great deals for Clubcard holders
Free EU roaming

The main criticism is that network speeds lag some rivals, but Tesco Mobile’s growing 5.7m‑strong customer base and awards for customer service and roaming underline the value of Tesco’s broader ecosystem — a factor often overlooked when investors focus solely on grocery margins.

What today’s news means for TSCO investors

Putting it all together, here’s how today’s 26 November 2025 news flow lands for shareholders:

The buyback remains the central capital‑allocation story. With more than £1.19bn already deployed and roughly £250m+ still to go, Tesco is steadily shrinking its share base, enhancing EPS and dividend capacity even if profit growth stays modest. ^[29]
The PDMR share purchases — while small in absolute terms — add to the perception that management is aligned with shareholders, reinvesting both salary and dividends into stock. ^[30]
Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with raised earnings forecasts and price targets clustering around or slightly above the current share price, leaving room for upside if Christmas trading surprises positively. ^[31]
Tesco’s ESG and community initiatives — from farm‑data baselining and sustainable farming, to health partnerships and food collections — reinforce a long‑term strategy focused on resilience, reputation and responsible growth, rather than short‑term margin maximisation. ^[32]

With the shares trading not far below many analysts’ fair‑value estimates, much of the good news is arguably priced in. But as long as:

The buyback continues at pace,
Dividends keep growing in line with profit, and
Tesco delivers a solid Christmas update in early 2026,

the TSCO investment case remains anchored in steady cash generation, market‑leading scale and reliable cash returns.

Key risks and what to watch next

Investors following Tesco from today should keep an eye on:

Q3 & Christmas trading statement (early 2026): This will be the first big test of Tesco’s upgraded guidance and its ability to manage heavy festive promotions without sacrificing margins. ^[33]
UK grocery inflation and competition: Ongoing price pressure from discounters and rivals remains intense; Tesco’s price‑matching and Clubcard strategies must keep defending share without eroding profitability. ^[34]
Regulatory and political scrutiny: As Tesco leans into data‑driven farming and health campaigns, it will stay firmly on policymakers’ radar, both as a potential partner and as a target for tougher rules.

For now, though, 26 November 2025 will likely be remembered as another incremental but positive day in Tesco’s 2025 story: more cash handed back to investors, more evidence of strategic consistency, and more signs that the UK’s biggest supermarket is determined to stay on the front foot.

This article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice. Always do your own research or consult a regulated financial adviser before making investment decisions.