London, May 2, 2026, 21:07 BST
British American Tobacco p.l.c. allotted 19,950 ordinary shares in April through its Sharesave Scheme. The new shares, each at 25 pence, hit the London Stock Exchange’s main market under a block admission—an established authorization for plan-related listings. BAT noted these shares carry equal rights to its outstanding ordinary shares.
It’s not a big number compared to BAT’s overall capital, but timing is key here. With buybacks in play, every tweak to the share count immediately shifts the headline figure investors watch for voting rights, earnings per share, and dividend cover. As of April 30, BAT listed 2,169,936,467 voting shares, while 132,661,545 shares sat in treasury—those are the ones the company holds itself, not in the hands of outside investors.
The notice comes ahead of BAT’s upcoming cash return. The board announced a 245.04 pence dividend for 2025, to be paid in four quarterly chunks of 61.26 pence each. First payout for London and Johannesburg lands May 7.
May 1 filings weren’t a trading update, but they keep the focus on how BAT is handling capital returns. That’s happening as the company tries to steer investors away from sluggish cigarette sales and get them behind its push into vapes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches.
On April 22, BAT said Merrill Lynch International will be handling the company’s share buyback, scooping up ordinary shares from April 23 through June 29. BAT stated the buyback is intended to shrink its share capital, with any shares purchased set to be cancelled.
BAT disclosed it picked up 260,511 shares across April 23 and April 24, paying volume-weighted averages of 4,200.84 pence and 4,329.77 pence. The shares are set for cancellation, the company noted.
BAT finished the session in London at 4,329 pence on May 1, ticking up 0.14%. Over in New York, its U.S. ADS settled Friday at $58.71.
BAT stuck to its outlook at the April annual meeting, telling investors it continued to see 2026 results landing at the lower bound of its mid-term targets—3%-5% revenue growth and 4%-6% growth in adjusted operating profit. The company uses adjusted numbers to smooth out items or currency swings and make comparisons easier. It also pointed to a 2%-3% foreign exchange drag on adjusted diluted EPS, or earnings per share.
The battle for market share is shifting from traditional cigarettes to alternative nicotine products. Back in February, Reuters noted BAT’s Velo pouch was grabbing U.S. share from Philip Morris International’s Zyn and Altria’s On!. Chief Executive Tadeu Marroco, speaking on a company call, described “plenty of opportunity” for Velo’s continued growth. Reuters
Jefferies analyst Andrei Andon-Ionita flagged in April that Philip Morris’s U.S. Zyn shipments were feeling the pinch, signaling what he called a “continued momentum loss,” Reuters reported. Velo stands to pick up some of that slack, and BAT is aiming to parlay that edge into a wider push on new products. Reuters
The buyback leaves the core challenge intact. BAT’s Vuse vape is still up against a swarm of unregulated competitors in the U.S. Marroco, speaking with Reuters, said even if certain disposable vapes are blocked from being imported, it likely won’t move the dial much before early 2027—supply chains and stockpiles remain long.
There’s another move on the finance side. BAT named Dragos Constantinescu—once with BAT, most recently CEO at Asahi Europe & International—to step in as chief financial officer and executive director starting Sept. 1. Javed Iqbal is set to stay on as interim CFO until that date.
July 30 is the next date on the calendar—BAT’s half-year numbers land then. Until that drops, there’s not much else in the way of new disclosures: just some recently issued plan shares, the latest on voting rights, and a buyback that’s handling much of the float.
