Losers outnumber gainers in record year for buybacks

IT was a record year for share buyback activity in the Singapore market with 112 companies posting 2,092 filings worth S$1.982 billion in 2015. Those are the highest yearly totals since buybacks were introduced by the Singapore Exchange in June 1999. The figures surpassed the previous highs of 109 firms, 1,762 filings and S$1.071 billion during the global financial crisis in 2008.

To show how high buyback activity was in 2015, the totals last year were comfortably above the yearly averages of 80 firms, 1,225 filings and S$685 million from 2007 to 2014. Historically, the 2015 figures were significantly more than the yearly averages of 49 companies, 788 filings and S$576 million from 1999 to 2014.

In terms of performance, losers outnumbered gainers last year - 71 companies recorded a price fall based on their average buyback price and year-end price of their stock in 2015. The price drops ranged from -1 per cent to -57 per cent with an average fall of -16 per cent.