The WACC of British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.L) is 6.7%.
| Range | Selected | |
| Cost of equity | 6.60% - 8.40% | 7.50% | 
| Tax rate | 22.10% - 25.70% | 23.90% | 
| Cost of debt | 4.10% - 9.20% | 6.65% | 
| WACC | 5.6% - 7.9% | 6.7% | 
| Category | Low | High | 
| Long-term bond rate | 4.0% | 4.5% | 
| Equity market risk premium | 6.0% | 7.0% | 
| Adjusted beta | 0.44 | 0.48 | 
| Additional risk adjustments | 0.0% | 0.5% | 
| Cost of equity | 6.60% | 8.40% | 
| Tax rate | 22.10% | 25.70% | 
| Debt/Equity ratio | 0.43 | 0.43 | 
| Cost of debt | 4.10% | 9.20% | 
| After-tax WACC | 5.6% | 7.9% | 
| Selected WACC | 6.7% | |
The Cost of Equity reflects the return a company needs to deliver to shareholders to justify the risk of investing in its shares. It’s computed using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which blends the risk-free rate, the stock’s beta, and the market risk premium.
This method evaluates the stock’s risk compared to a safe investment and the market’s overall volatility.
Here’s how we figure out the cost of equity for BATS.L:
cost_of_equity (7.50%) = risk_free_rate (4.25%) + equity_risk_premium (6.50%) * adjusted_beta (0.44) + risk_adjustments (0.25%)
We include the risk adjustments, which range from 0% to 1%, to keep our WACC conservatives, especially for companies traded in developing markets.