In January 2021, 20 SGX primary-listed stocks bought back 30 million shares for a total consideration of S$12.45 million. This was down from S$114 million in consideration for December 2020, and down from the S$30 million filed for January 2020.
The January buyback consideration tally was led Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Avarga, OUE, Global Investments and Wilmar Int. As of 29 January, Global Investments had bought back 3.79% of its issued shares (excl. treasury shares) from the date of its current buyback mandate and OUE had bought back 2.10%.
January saw a seasonal decline in buyback consideration, expected to continue into February with many SGX-listed companies scheduled to report FY20 (ended 30 Dec) financials. As best practice, companies should refrain from buying back their shares during the one month immediately before full-year financial statements.
Total share buyback consideration for month of January 2021 totaled S$12.45 million, down from the $114.4 million in consideration reported for December 2020 (click here for more details). The January 2021 buyback consideration was also lower than the S$29.9 million reported for January 2020.
During the month of January 2021, the Straits Times Index (“STI”) gained 2.1% to 2,902.52. As discussed here, the gains of the STI took the three month price gain of the STI to 19.8%. Over the month, STI stocks saw combined net institutional inflows of S$18 million (compared to approximate inflows of S$300 million in January 2020) and combined net retail outflows of S$245 million (compared to approximate outflows of S$130 million in January 2020). Meanwhile, the combined AUM of the SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF and the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF ended January at S$2.16 billion compared to S$2.07 billion at the end of 2020, with the unit creations and no redemptions generating S$47 million of net inflows into the two ETFs.
The two of the 20 stocks that have bought back the largest percentage of their issued shares on the current mandates include Global Investments and OUE. Global Investments’ current buyback mandate has seen it purchase 3.79% of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares), with the preceding share buyback mandate seeing Global Investments buy back 8.52% of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares). Meanwile, as of 29 January, OUE had bought back of 2.10% its issued shares (excluding treasury shares) on the current mandate.
The table below summarises the buyback considerations in January 2021. 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.
| SGX Primary Listed Stocks that Conducted Buybacks in Jan 2021 |
Number of Shares/units Authorised for Purchase in Current Mandate |
Total Number of Shares/units Purchased in Jan 2021 |
Total Buyback Consideration (including stamp duties, clearing changes etc.) paid or payable for the shares |
Average Price Paid |
Cumulative Number of Shares/units purchased in Mandate to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YANGZIJIANG SHIPBUILDING (HOLDINGS) | 391,876,520 | 4,000,000 | $3,904,799 | $0.98 | 70,249,200 |
| AVARGA | 94,704,634 | 10,000,000 | $2,959,551 | $0.30 | 16,239,800 |
| OUE | 90,061,166 | 1,100,800 | $1,299,573 | $1.18 | 18,949,800 |
| GLOBAL INVESTMENTS | 161,476,125 | 8,949,800 | $1,283,714 | $0.14 | 61,278,600 |
| WILMAR INTERNATIONAL | 635,459,880 | 252,000 | $1,222,856 | $4.85 | 44,968,400 |
| FOOD EMPIRE HOLDINGS | 53,597,249 | 1,020,800 | $715,464 | $0.70 | 3,333,600 |
| HOTUNG INVESTMENT HLDGS | 9,628,608 | 161,000 | $273,030 | $1.70 | 335,000 |
| SECOND CHANCE PROPERTIES | 37,763,566 | 1,098,600 | $267,523 | $0.24 | 1,098,600 |
| JAPFA | 204,908,472 | 150,000 | $135,246 | $0.90 | 23,150,000 |
| KSH HOLDINGS | 56,382,624 | 230,000 | $82,245 | $0.36 | 430,000 |
| HC SURGICAL SPECIALISTS | 15,104,573 | 162,200 | $71,829 | $0.44 | 1,530,600 |
| TREK 2000 INTERNATIONAL | 31,945,342 | 485,400 | $52,788 | $0.11 | 3,936,600 |
| NORDIC GROUP | 39,019,100 | 175,000 | $42,849 | $0.24 | 1,466,000 |
| CHEUNG WOH TECHNOLOGIES | 29,770,450 | 268,000 | $39,201 | $0.15 | 2,731,200 |
| MIYOSHI | 59,996,089 | 950,000 | $34,103 | $0.04 | 1,150,000 |
| MDR | 89,039,757 | 367,700 | $30,370 | $0.08 | 3,377,000 |
| TUAN SING HOLDINGS | 118,414,021 | 64,900 | $21,806 | $0.34 | 1,428,400 |
| ADVANCER GLOBAL | 16,942,532 | 79,000 | $8,396 | $0.11 | 1,177,900 |
| GLOBAL PALM RESOURCES HOLDINGS | 19,589,830 | 39,300 | $5,456 | $0.14 | 39,300 |
| CHOO CHIANG HOLDINGS | 20,800,000 | 500 | $142 | $0.28 | 127,600 |
| Total | 29,555,000 | $12,450,941 |
Source: SGX (Data as of 29 January 2021)
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. Buybacks can pick up amidst market declines that are driven by broader moves on international macroeconomic developments.
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 semi-annual financial statements and one month immediately before the full-year financial statements.
