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Share buyback value hits 1.4 bln USD in 2015: SGX

Xinhua, January 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Listed companies on Singapore Exchange (SGX) bought back their own shares worthy of 2 billion Singapore dollars (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, according to a report released by SGX on Monday.

This is a record high since the share buyback scheme was introduced in 1999, reported local newspaper the Straits Times, and it said that last year's total share buyback value surpassed the previous high during the global financial crisis in 2008.

A total of 38 listed companies purchased nearly 67.7 million shares in December 2015, with United Overseas Bank (UOB), PEC, DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Pacific Century Regional Developments becoming the top five buyers of their shares, said SGX. Share buybacks were 63.1 million Singapore dollars (44.3 million U.S. dollars) in December last year.

There are two common reasons for listed companies to buy shares back from the open market. One reason is that companies feel their share price has been undervalued, the other consideration is they simply want to facilitate employee share option schemes to reward good performance amidst tight labor market, said SGX. Endit