OREANDA-NEWS. Coinciding with tight labour markets, share buyback considerations have increased over the past year, with company shares providing another means of remuneration. Share buyback refers to a share issuer repurchasing some of its outstanding shares from shareholders through open market transactions. Once the shares are bought back, they will be converted into treasury shares, which means they are no longer categorised as shares outstanding. Other motivations for share buybacks include companies trying to align stock valuations with balance sheet objectives.

Share buyback information can be found on the company disclosure page on the SGX website, using the Announcement category and sub-category of Share Buy Back-On Market.

For the third week of the month (15-19 June), there were a total of 103,146,900 shares repurchased by 18 stocks, with a total consideration of S\$80.0 million. This reflected an increase from the third week of June last year, which saw a total of 8,297,000 shares purchased, with a total consideration of S\$21.4 million.

The five stocks with the largest considerations in buybacks last week were Noble Group, Genting Singapore PLC, Keppel Corporation, Singapore Technologies Engineering, and Pacific Century Regional Developments.

The table below is sorted by the total consideration amount in buybacks from 15 June to 19 June, which collates the amount of shares purchased and the purchasing price of the shares. The date of the relevant share buyback mandate is also provided, in addition to the amount of shares authorised to be bought back under the mandate. The total number of shares purchased under the mandate and the percentage of the companies that issued shares which have been repurchased under the mandate are also provided.

Name Start Date Mandate Total no of shares purchased: 15-19 June Total Consideration: 15-19 June S\$ Cum no of shares purchased to date Percent*
NOBLE GROUP 17/04/2015 673,946,696 77,714,200 54,507,642 102,714,200 1.52
GENTING SINGAPORE PLC 21/04/2015 1,206,968,389 16,511,700 15,029,445 18,648,200 0.15
KEPPEL CORPORATION 17/04/2015 90,850,197 200,000 1,687,558 584,000 0.03
SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING 23/04/2015 62,188,890 500,000 1,642,106 500,000 0.02
PACIFIC CENTURY REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 24/04/2015 273,887,290 3,350,200 1,545,050 17,099,400 0.62
SINGAPORE AIRLINES 30/07/2014 58,735,366 126,500 1,322,014 7,106,500 0.60
HYFLUX 29/04/2015 80,687,669 1,270,000 1,103,192 1,691,700 0.21
BOUSTEAD SINGAPORE 25/07/2014 51,521,107 800,000 1,046,989 1,600,000 0.31
OVERSEA-CHINESE BANKING CORPORATION 28/04/2015 199,084,946 100,000 1,003,477 3,150,000 0.08
LIAN BENG GROUP 26/09/2014 52,976,000 854,100 469,214 21,434,000 4.05
GP BATTERIES INTERNATIONAL 30/07/2014 16,480,675 280,400 264,132 460,500 0.28
GP INDUSTRIES 30/07/2014 49,629,448 206,700 148,915 10,106,300 2.04
USP GROUP 27/02/2015 67,012,023 875,000 69,217 14,793,000 2.21
KOH BROTHERS GROUP 29/04/2015 41,634,090 114,400 35,591 955,900 0.23
POH TIONG CHOON LOGISTICS 30/04/2015 21,402,940 50,000 35,102 527,400 0.25
SIN HENG HEAVY MACHINERY 30/10/2014 57,402,500 130,900 21,035 180,900 0.03
AMARA HOLDINGS 29/04/2015 57,602,610 34,800 17,699 34,800 0.01
KARIN TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS 09/10/2014 21,336,600 28,000 9,284 306,000 0.14

Source: SGX
*percentage of company’s issued shares excluding treasury shares as at the date of the share buyback resolution

Noble Group

On 17 April 2015, a share buyback resolution was passed for Noble Group. In the third week of June, Noble Group repurchased a total number of 77,714,200 shares with a total consideration of S\$54,507,642.42.

The maximum number of shares authorised for the buyback transaction was 673,946,696. As of end of last week, by way of acquisition, Noble Group had purchased a cumulative amount of 102,714,200 shares under the 17 April 2015 resolution. This represented 1.52% of the company's issued shares (excluding treasury shares) as at the date of the share buyback resolution.

As of 18 June 2015, the number of issued shares excluding treasury shares stood at 6,636,752,762 and the number of treasury shares held after purchase stood at 102,714,200.

Genting Singapore PLC

On 21 April 2015, a share buyback resolution was passed for Genting Singapore PLC. In the third week of June, Genting Singapore PLC repurchased a total number of 16,511,700 shares with a total consideration of S\$15,029,445.14.

The maximum number of shares authorised for the buyback transaction was 1,206,968,389. As of end of last week, by way of acquisition, Genting Singapore PLC had purchased a cumulative amount of 18,648,200 shares under the 21 April 2015 resolution. This represented 0.15% of the company's issued shares (excluding treasury shares) as at the date of the share buyback resolution.

As of 16 June 2015, the number of issued shares excluding treasury shares stood at 12,066,866,339 and the number of treasury shares held after purchase stood at 18,648,200.

Keppel Corporation

On 17 April 2015, a share buyback resolution was passed for Keppel Corporation. In the third week of June, Keppel Corporation repurchased a total number of 200,000 shares with a total consideration of S\$1,687,558.17.

The maximum number of shares authorised for the buyback transaction was 90,850,197. As of end of last week, by way of acquisition, Keppel Corporation had purchased a cumulative amount of 584,000 shares under the 17 April 2015 resolution. This represented 0.03% of the company's issued shares (excluding treasury shares) as at the date of the share buyback resolution.

As of 15 June 2015, the number of issued shares excluding treasury shares stood at 1,817,313,295 and the number of treasury shares held after purchase stood at 596,885.

Singapore Technologies Engineering

On 23 April 2015, a share buyback resolution was passed for Singapore Technologies Engineering. In the third week of June, Singapore Technologies Engineering repurchased a total number of 500,000 shares with a total consideration of S\$1,642,105.76.

The maximum number of shares authorised for the buyback transaction was 62,188,890. As of end of last week, by way of acquisition, Singapore Technologies Engineering had purchased a cumulative amount of 500,000 shares under the 23 April 2015 resolution. This represented 0.02% of the company's issued shares (excluding treasury shares) as at the date of the share buyback resolution.

As of 19 June 2015, the number of issued shares excluding treasury shares stood at 3,109,894,279 and the number of treasury shares held after purchase stood at 12,600,918.

Pacific Century Regional Developments

On 24 April 2015, a share buyback resolution was passed for Pacific Century Regional Developments. In the third week of June, Pacific Century Regional Developments repurchased a total number of 3,350,200 shares with a total consideration of S\$1,545,049.53.

The maximum number of shares authorised for the buyback transaction was 273,887,290. As of end of last week, by way of acquisition, Pacific Century Regional Developments had purchased a cumulative amount of 17,099,400 shares under the 24 April 2015 resolution. This represented 0.62% of the company's issued shares (excluding treasury shares) as at the date of the share buyback resolution.

As of 19 June 2015, the number of issued shares excluding treasury shares stood at 2,721,773,500 and the number of treasury shares held after purchase stood at 0.