Buybacks24 Apr 2024 01:13
To have had two years in succession (2022 and 2023) purchasing well in excess of 4 Billion shares in each of those years, it would be incredible to have a third year this year above 4 Billion bought back ,even if it was only by a single share, but the odds of that are not good at this point in time, unless of course results for whatever reason are dreadful,or the market crashes.
A reset in expectations/hope of further programmes should be one of percentages rather than a number. With this in mind, being able to purchase and cancel 5% of those number of shares in issue at the start of a programme would be a good outcome. This assumes of course the same level of spend (£2 Billion)