Boss of top five shareholder GQC Partners yesterday called on British American Tobacco's (BAT) to launch an "aggressive" share buyback programme to accelerate the return of capital to shareholders and boost the cigarette maker's dwindling share price, which has fallen 18 per cent since the start of this year. BAT launched a £2bn stock repurchase programme in 2022, but chose not to renew it this year. Rajiv Jain told the Financial Times BAT's new chief Tadeu Marroco needed to better communicate the company's investment case and "buy back stock in a much more aggressive manner."

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