BAT keeps the cash coming with a fresh buyback

Same old BAT, but with more cash returning

British American Tobacco’s chair took the mic at the 2026 AGM and delivered the kind of update shareholders love: more money back to them. The company said smokeless product consumers rose 15% year over year, while 2025 cash returns to shareholders totaled £6.3 billion, bringing the running tally to about £34 billion since 2020.

The headline: buybacks are still on

The most immediate headline for investors is the fresh £1.3 billion share buyback. That matters because repurchases can help support earnings per share and signal that management thinks the stock is still worth scooping up, like a retailer putting its own brand on sale.

Dividend fans, you’re covered too

BAT also announced a 2% dividend increase. That’s not exactly a moonshot catalyst, but it reinforces the company’s reputation as a cash-generating machine with a shareholder-first habit.

Big picture

For investors, the message is pretty simple: BAT is still leaning hard on capital returns while it keeps pushing smokeless products. If that transition keeps gaining traction, the buybacks and dividend hikes can keep the stock looking less like a sleepy tobacco name and more like a steady cash compounding story.