London, March 4, 2026, 07:47 GMT — Premarket
- Rolls-Royce disclosed another tranche of share repurchases under its £2.3 billion buyback programme. 1
- Shares ended Tuesday at 1,303 pence, down 3.77%. 2
- The group has proposed a 5.0 pence final dividend for 2025, due June 3 pending shareholder approval. 3
Rolls-Royce Holdings said it bought back 1,652,501 shares on March 3 under its £2.3 billion buyback programme, paying between 1,263.5 and 1,362 pence each. It said it will cancel the shares, leaving 8,423,278,918 in issue, and has repurchased 4,557,703 shares since the programme began. 4
Rolls-Royce shares (RR.L) closed at 1,303 pence on Tuesday, down 3.77%, after trading between 1,263.5 and 1,365.5 pence. Volume was 90.84 million shares, according to Investing.com data. 5
That pullback came with a broader risk-off day in London. The FTSE 100 dropped 2.8% on Tuesday as energy prices jumped and traders re-priced UK rate-cut bets, Reuters reported. “If higher energy prices squeeze real incomes and prevent the Bank from cutting rates, hopes would be dashed,” said David Rees at Schroders. 6
The buyback is part of a wider capital return plan flagged with results last week, including up to £2.5 billion of repurchases in 2026. A buyback is when a company buys its own shares, shrinking the share count. 7
Rolls-Royce has also proposed a final dividend of 5.0 pence a share for 2025, due on June 3 to shareholders on the register on April 24, subject to approval at the April 30 annual meeting. Chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said the transformation was moving “with pace and intensity”. 8
A director dealing notice on Tuesday showed Erginbilgic and finance chief Helen McCabe had incentive plan shares vest, with part of the stock sold to cover statutory withholding liabilities. 9
Separately, the company said it had appointed retired U.S. generals Laura Richardson and Duke Richardson to the Rolls-Royce North America board. “We are honored to welcome General Laura Richardson and General Duke Richardson to the RRNA Board of Directors,” North America chief Adam Riddle said. 10
Rolls-Royce sits in the middle of the same tug-of-war hitting other UK cyclicals: oil and rates on one side, cash returns on the other. In civil aerospace, service revenue tracks flying hours, and airlines tend to flinch when fuel costs spike. 11
At Tuesday’s close, the stock was about 8% below its 52-week high of 1,420 pence set on Feb. 26, according to FT data. 12
But buybacks do not stop a selloff if the market mood turns. A sharper hit to airline demand, fresh supply-chain snags or a stumble in defence spending can still knock a stock that is priced for execution.
Investors now look to the London open for a read on dip buying, and to management’s March diary for any update on demand and shareholder returns. Rolls-Royce lists a U.S. and Canada investor roadshow on March 10 and a Bank of America Global Industrials Conference appearance on March 17. 13
