• In March, 31 primary-listed stocks bought back their shares with a combined S$131.46 million in consideration, up from the 21 stocks that filed S$114.0 million in consideration for February. Seasonally, the consideration also surpassed the S$71.8 million in consideration filed for March 2021.
   
• The monthly buyback consideration tally was again led by Keppel Corp, with the conglomerate buying back S$74 million of its shares in March at an average price of S$6.07 per share. As of 18 March, Keppel Corp had bought back 1.52% of its issued shares (excl. treasury shares) on the current buyback mandate.
   
• Keppel Corp also led the buyback consideration tally in Feb, as well as for 1Q22, while also ranking as the STI’s second strongest performing constituent in 1Q22 with a 25% gain. For 1Q22, the share buyback consideration of primary-listed Singapore stocks came to S$298.3 million, more than doubling the 1Q21 consideration at S$134.0 million.

In the month of March, 31 primary-listed stocks on SGX bought back their shares that totaled S$131.46 million in buyback consideration, up from the S$114.0 million in consideration and S$52.9 million in consideration in January. The S$131.46 million in buyback consideration represented 0.02% of the total market value of all primary-listed stocks listed on SGX as of the end of the end of March.

Secondary-listings Jardine Matheson Holdings and Hongkong Land also continued to conduct share buybacks in March. Jardine Matheson Holdings completed its US$500 million Share Buyback Programme on Mar 4. From 30 Sep through to 4 Mar, the share price of Jardine Matheson Holdings gained 13.7% in SGD terms, ranking the seventh strongest stock of the MSCI Hong Kong Index over the period.

During the month of March, the STI gained 5.1% to 3,408.52 as the FTSE Asia Pacific Index declined 0.5% in SGD terms.

As seen in February, the March buyback consideration tally was led by Keppel Corporation. As of 18 March, Keppel Corporation had bought back 1.52% of its respective issued shares (excl. treasury shares) on the current buyback mandate. On 27 January, Keppel Corporation announced it had established a S$500 million Share Buyback Programme, pursuant to the Share Purchase Mandate granted by its shareholders at the Company’s previous AGM. The Company noted that shares repurchased will be held as treasury shares which will be used in part for the annual vesting of employee share plans, but also as possible currency for future M&A activities.

The table below summarises the buyback transactions of the 31 primary-listed stocks that conducted buybacks in March, up from the 21 primary-listed stocks that conducted buybacks in February. 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, Refinitiv, Bloomberg (Data as of 31 March 2022)