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Tesco has launched its share buyback scheme worth £750m, starting with the purchase of shares of aggregate value of up to £250m.
The supermarket giant, which aims to return £750m to shareholders by April 2027 to reduce its share capital, said further phases of the programme will be revealed at a later date.
To facilitate the return, the retailer has enlisted Citigroup Global Markets to buy ordinary shares on its behalf on the London Stock Exchange and Cboe Europe.
In accordance with UK listing rules, Citigroup cannot make purchases more than 5% above the recent five-day average or the price of the last independent trade – whichever is higher.
Tesco has proposed a final dividend of 9.7p per share, bringing the total payout for the year to 14.5p, following an interim payment of 4.8p last November.
Since October 2021, the business has returned £4.3bn of capital through share buybacks, at an average price of 317p per share.
This news comes after Tesco warned that its 2026/27 financial year could be squeezed by Middle East tensions and the resulting pressure on British consumers, despite reporting a 0.6% rise in adjusted operating profits to £3.15bn for the 2025/26 financial year.
The group, which forecasts operating profits between £3bn and £3.3bn for the current period, said it saw its highest UK market share in over 10 years – hitting 28.5% after large-scale investments in its customer offer.
In its preliminary results for 2025/26, Tesco said: “We see our share buyback programme as a critical driver of shareholder returns, reflecting the strength of our balance sheet and our confidence in continuing to deliver strong future cash flows.”
