LONDON, March 21, 2026, 19:14 GMT
British American Tobacco dropped 1.0% to 4,311 pence at Friday’s close. The Lucky Strike maker was swept up in a broader rout, as the FTSE 100 slid 1.4% and London stocks notched a third consecutive weekly drop.
That’s a key point—BAT has leaned on cash returns to reassure investors as it looks for momentum in vapes and nicotine pouches. Just this week, the group announced a fresh buyback tranche; only days before, it locked in a quarterly dividend of 61.26 pence. Still, the shares slipped.
A tougher climate hit markets over two sessions. The FTSE 100 slid to a two-month low on Thursday, then dropped further Friday, as traders reacted to the Bank of England’s inflation warning and tensions from the Iran war, pricing in more UK rate hikes. “The Bank can’t fight a battle on two fronts,” said Nick Saunders, chief executive of Webull UK. Reuters
BAT hasn’t budged from its previous stance. In a Feb. 18 investor update, the group stuck to its 2026 guidance: revenue growth of 3% to 5%, adjusted operating profit rising 4% to 6%, and earnings per share up 5% to 8%, all ex-currency effects. The company did caution that performance would probably come in at the lower end of those ranges.
BAT disclosed in a Friday filing that it picked up 127,766 shares on March 19, paying an average price of 4,348.2171 pence. The buyback trims the overall share count, potentially boosting profit per share—a move that failed to halt the recent drop.
Back in February, interim CFO Javed Iqbal flagged that BAT’s push for AI-driven efficiency is set to hit headcount. CEO Tadeu Marroco was bullish on Velo in the U.S., telling investors he’s “extremely encouraged”—especially as BAT grabs share from Philip Morris International’s Zyn and Altria’s On! nicotine pouches, according to Reuters.
Still, hurdles remain. Back in February, BAT told Reuters that a U.S. import ban on some disposable vapes could shrink the unregulated e-cigarette market by as much as a third. Marroco, though, doesn’t see any significant impact showing up before early 2027. Meanwhile, BAT is dealing with a London shareholder lawsuit tied to claims it didn’t fully disclose past breaches of North Korea-related sanctions—a situation BAT confirmed this month.
BAT’s first quarterly dividend for 2026 is set to go out May 7, with shareholders needing to be on the books by March 27. Still, after Friday’s close, the shares ended up below what BAT paid on average in its most recent buyback round—a signal that, at least right now, investor jitters about the bigger picture are trumping whatever payout muscle the company is showing.
