• In September, 20 SGX primary-listed stocks bought back their shares, with a total consideration of S$134 million, up from 25 stocks filing S$96 million in consideration in August. This was the highest monthly consideration since the S$174.2 million in consideration in November 2020.
   
• OCBC, UOB and The Hour Glass also contributed more than 90% of the September consideration tally. Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also bought back shares in September. On 30 September, Jardine Matheson Holdings also proposed to buy back US$250 million to its shareholders by 30 June 2022 through share buybacks.
   
• The Hour Glass has bought back 1.10% of its outstanding shares on the mandate that began 28 July 2021. The preceding buyback mandate saw The Hour Glass buy back 1.04% of its shares between 16 June 2021 and 27 July 2021. The stock has rallied 95% over the first nine months of 2021, with dividends boosting the total return to 100%.    

During September, 20 primary-listed stocks on SGX bought back their shares, with a total consideration of S$133.9 million. This brings the total consideration filed by the primary-listed stocks to S$609 million for the first nine months of 2021, which represents 0.07% of the S$887.9 billion total market value of all stocks listed on SGX.

This was the highest monthly consideration since the S$174.2 million in consideration in November 2020, which was on the back of S$142.1 million in buyback consideration filed by Wilmar International. September’s consideration compared to 25 primary-listed stocks on SGX buying back their shares in August 2021 with a total consideration of S$96.3 million (click here for more) and 24 SGX primary-listed stocks buying back shares for a total consideration of S$43 million in September 2020 (click here for more).

The 1.0% STI gain in September brought its total return over the past nine months to 11.6%. The combined AUM of the SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF and the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF ended September 2021 at S$2.24 billion, compared to S$2.08 billion at the end of December 2020, with the unit creations and redemptions generating S$14 million of net outflows into the two ETFs over the past nine months.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, United Overseas Bank and The Hour Glass also contributed more than 90 per cent of the September consideration tally. The Hour Glass has bought back 1.10% of its outstanding shares on the mandate that began 28 July 2021. The preceding buyback mandate saw The Hour Glass buy back 1.04% of its shares between 16 June 2021 and 27 July 2021. The stock has rallied 95% over the first nine months of 2021, with dividends boosting the total return to 100%. On 20 May, the company reported 9% YoY net profit growth for its FY21 (ending 31 March) and is expected to report is 1HFY22 results in early November. The Hour Glass is one of the world's leading specialist watch retailers with an established presence of over 47 boutiques in twelve key cities in the Asia Pacific region.

Secondary-listed Hongkong Land also bought back shares in September. On 30 September, Jardine Matheson Holdings also proposed to buy back US$250 million to its shareholders by 30 June 2022 through share buybacks.

The table below summarises the buyback transactions of the 20 primary-listed stocks stocks that conducted buybacks in September. 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.

Source: SGX, Bloomberg (Data as of 1 October 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 have been observed to also 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 (click here). 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.