In the month of Jan 2020, 16 SGX primary-listed stocks bought back 37 million shares for a total consideration of S$30 million. This was down from S$70 million in consideration for Dec 2019, and similar to the S$26 million filed for Jan 2019.
The Jan buyback consideration tally was led by OCBC, Sembcorp Industries, Silverlake Axis, ST Engineering, Stamford Land . As of 3 Feb, Stamford Land had bought back 4.13% of its issued shares from the date of its current buyback mandate.
Buybacks conducted by STI stocks made up two-thirds of the S$590 million total consideration in 2019. In January 2020, five STI stocks again made up just over two-thirds of the S$30 million, with Singapore Exchange and Singapore Press Holdings also contributing to Jan’s buyback consideration.
Total share buyback consideration for month of January 2020 totaled S$29.9 million, down from the $70.1 million in consideration reported for December 2019 (click here for more details). The January 2020 buyback consideration was similar to the S$26.4 million reported for January 2019.
During the month of January 2020, the Straits Times Index (“STI”) declined 2.1%. This followed a total return of 9.4% in 2019, as detailed in a Market Update last month (click here for more).
Share buyback transactions involve share issuers repurchasing some of their outstanding shares from shareholders through the open market. Once the shares are bought back, they can be converted into treasury shares, which means they are no longer categorised as shares outstanding. Motivations for share buybacks can include employee compensation plans (such as share option schemes or employee share purchase plans) or long term capital management.
January 2020 Buybacks at S$30 Million
The table below summarises the buyback considerations in January 2020. The table is sorted by the value of the total consideration amount for the month, which combines the amount of shares or units purchased and the purchasing price of the transactions.
| Stocks that Conducted buybacks in January 2020 |
Max of Number of Shares/units Authorised for Purchase in Current Mandate |
Sum of Total Number of Shares/units Purchased |
Sum of Total Buyback Consideration (including stamp duties, clearing changes etc.) paid or payable for the shares |
Max of Cumulative Number of Shares/units purchased in Mandate to date* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERSEA-CHINESE BANKING CORPORATION | 212,257,935 | 750,000 | $8,247,181 | 11,080,000 |
| SEMBCORP INDUSTRIES | 35,739,673 | 2,868,000 | $6,604,138 | 4,598,100 |
| SILVERLAKE AXIS | 264,505,273 | 13,111,500 | $5,212,403 | 21,112,900 |
| SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING | 62,432,801 | 800,000 | $3,205,350 | 7,299,100 |
| STAMFORD LAND CORPORATION | 81,973,408 | 4,228,600 | $2,113,953 | 32,817,100 |
| SINGAPORE EXCHANGE | 107,164,240 | 210,400 | $1,840,592 | 210,400 |
| GLOBAL INVESTMENTS | 168,741,864 | 6,322,700 | $901,712 | 71,357,500 |
| SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS | 159,456,338 | 300,000 | $609,457 | 300,000 |
| STRACO CORPORATION | 86,411,428 | 540,000 | $362,829 | 1,974,700 |
| SINGAPORE SHIPPING CORPORATION | 42,417,689 | 622,000 | $180,757 | 15,845,700 |
| HOTEL PROPERTIES | 26,914,011 | 35,900 | $136,982 | 256,200 |
| THE STRAITS TRADING COMPANY | 40,767,817 | 59,300 | $125,960 | 571,700 |
| CDW HOLDING | 22,724,200 | 652,600 | $122,302 | 4,705,500 |
| SPACKMAN ENTERTAINMENT GROUP | 103,096,560 | 5,919,400 | $95,004 | 17,919,400 |
| INTRACO | 10,372,588 | 179,200 | $52,628 | 800,000 |
| TUAN SING HOLDINGS | 118,620,496 | 150,000 | $46,873 | 3,855,000 |
| Total | 36,749,600 | $29,858,122 |
Source: Bloomberg, SGX (Data as of 31 January 2020)
The date of the relevant share buyback mandate is also provided in the table above, 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 that have been repurchased under the mandate are also provided.
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. As best practice, companies should refrain from buying back their shares during the two weeks immediately before its quarterly financial statements and one month immediately before the full-year financial statements.
