From the perspective of market participants, the rationale behind these buybacks is not difficult to decipher: they are intended to support Genting Singapore’s share price, which has fallen 11% over the past month to 60.5 cents as of June 9. That is only marginally above its March 2020 low of 58 cents, reached when markets plunged amid pandemic-driven panic.
Genting Singapore (SGX:G13
) , which has a market capitalisation of around $7.2 billion, has embarked on a share buyback spree of sorts. With $3.2 billion in cash previously earmarked for its Japan foray, the company has instead redirected part of the funds towards a series of share buybacks.
Since the start of its share buyback mandate on April 15, Genting Singapore has spent about $13.65 million repurchasing more than 22.4 million shares as of June 9, equivalent to 0.18% of its issued share capital excluding treasury shares. The recent buybacks are notable as they mark the company’s first such exercise in about a decade, when it accumulated treasury shares primarily for employee performance-share schemes.
