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These things always take longer than they should so probably need to wait at least a couple of months!
Hmm no buybacks today :(
Cheaper it gets the more valuable those committed buybacks become! The FCF yield is now approaching 18%!!
Your statement assumes that the shares will either remain at this level or fall even further, which, given the substantial cash flows that the company is churning out everyday becomes less and less likely! When they finally decide to start buying back shares again, probably in 6-12 months, the shares will be higher and this opportunity will have been missed......
ANDREW GILCHRIST Non-exec director just purchased 3,000 shares today!
I was going to mention previously that people should not be so concerned with director sells as the reasons for this are often unrelated to expectations of future performance, however there is only one reason that directors buy shares and that is because they believe the shares will rise in value!
These guys need to start the buybacks ASAP. Forget about reducing debt, the market is gifting them absurdly cheap shares at the moment!
This stock is on a 17.5% free cash flow yield at the moment. Who the heck is selling? Even the buybacks can't hold off the selling pressure!
That was to cover his tax liability. He still holds his residual shares.
Looks like the buybacks are starting to kick in already!!
Big tobacco firms Imperial and BAT fall on vape tax plan
Shares in tobacco giants British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS) and Imperial Brands PLC (LSE:IMB) fell on news that vaping and cigarettes could be hit with new taxes in the UK.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt are mulling introducing a new tax on vapes at next Wednesday's Budget, according to media reports.
Currently vaping products are subject to VAT but not the same levy as is applied to cigarettes.
Tobacco duty could also increase at the Budget, to ensure that vaping remains cheaper, reported the Times, which first broke the story.
Last month, plans were announced for UK-wide restrictions on disposable vapes, to tackle the rise in youth vaping.
Imperial Brands, which owns the Blu vape brand and tobacco brands including Golden Virginia and Richmond, shares fell 4.3% while BAT, which owns Vuse vaping brand and Rothmans and Lucky Strikes, was down only 0.6%.
"Although the industry is jostling for position in the vaping market, given the volumes declines in tobacco, these products are still a relatively small part of the picture," said market analyst Susannah Streeter at HL.
"Investors had also been expecting greater regulation in the sector, so a potential increase in tax isn’t a wild surprise and given they are global companies a change in UK fiscal policy won't move the dial too much."
Can't wait for the buyback announcement after the close today! Should be a very outsized amount! At least one million shares plus!
Cannot figure out why the massive fall in price today! If this is related to the tax on vapes, that makes no sense, as it's not like IMB has a premium attached to it based on its prospects in vaping.......I am stumped on this one! Picked up a few more shares for better or worse!!
Hmm seems no-one wants to be anywhere near this stock...I smell a bargain here!!
Managed to pick up a few hundred extra shares at 3153p so all good!
Based on how the shares swiftly recovered I wonder whether it was a large institution dumping shares for ESG reasons only to be snapped up by share buybacks!
Any ideas on why the big drop today? Can't see any news!
Not entirely true, there are plenty of buyback programmes that have the flexibility to accelerate or decelerate the speed at which they buyback shares depending on whether management considers the market to be over or undervaluing the shares.
Take Amazon for example...they announced a $5bn buyback way back in 2016 but didn't purchase a single share until 2021...presumably because until now they did not feel that the share were attractively priced.
Absolutely nothing wrong with the company keeping the money in cash in the meantime. Worst case this will improve the net debt profile of the company, which should be reflected in the valuation of the company.
Frankly anyone who is complaining about the dividend not going up by the level of inflation clearly has zero understanding of the fundamental mechanics of how companies operate and are financed. If that is the case you really shouldn't be investing in shares, and should leave investing decisions to a professional.
That being said, although it is always nice to see the market appreciate the value of BATS in the form of a higher share price, the announced buyback has lost some of it's attractiveness, however there is no guarantee that the shares will hold up throughout the year, and hopefully BATS will be opportunistic in it's deployment. I think there is a lot of value in maintaining a combination of dividends and buybacks, and over the last few years the lack of buybacks has been a missed opportunity.
In Warren Buffetts' words “Cigar Butt approach to investing is where you try and find a really kind of pathetic company but it sells so cheap that you think there is one good puff left in it”.” Though the stub might be ugly and soggy”, the bargain purchase would make “ the puff all free”
There is no better way to sum up the opportunity in BATS than the words of the greatest investors of all time - Warren Buffett! This is exactly how I view my investment in BATS - however I actually believe that BATS is of higher quality than 'a kind of pathetic company' as quoted above - though this simply strengthens the investment case even further!!
Clued - all sentiment driven I believe....keep focusing on the fundamentals that should give you the confidence to hold, or buy more if you can as its a bargain at these levels!
I think traders who don't do any fundamental analysis treat all the tobacco shares as one unit. Altria and PM have understandably fallen quite considerably on the IQOS news and they have simply traded BATS in the same way. Clearly wrong of course, but if you are one of the few people who bother to understand the company you are investing in, it presents a nice opportunity.
A lot of weaker hands getting out today which is great! That is exactly what we need for a nice rally into year end!