Share buybacks in first half of July jump to almost S$43 million

SHARE buybacks totalling nearly S$43 million were made by listed companies in the first half of this month, with about 63.34 million shares repurchased by 22 stocks, according to a Singapore Exchange "My Gateway" report.

This was up from S$23.3 million in the corresponding period a year ago.

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

In the first half of July, Genting Singapore bought 18.82 million shares worth about S$16.8 million. Since shareholders approved a share buyback resolution in April, it has bought back about 0.31 per cent of its issued shares.

Meanwhile, Pacific Century Regional Developments repurchased 19.05 million shares worth S$8.62 million, while the Noble Group repurchased around 11.48 million shares for S$8.35 million. Since April, Noble has bought back 2.16 per cent of its issued shares.