Listed firms' stock buybacks up 245% on-year in first 7 months

Share buybacks by South Korea's listed companies increased 244.8 percent on-year to 6.31 trillion won ($5.6 billion) in the first seven months of this year from a year earlier, data showed Monday.

A total of 64 companies -- listed on the main bourse and the tech-heavy Kosdaq market -- had announced the share buybacks in regulatory filings as of July 27, compared with 1.83 trillion won by 47 firms from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the bourse operator Korea Exchange.

By market, 29 firms listed on the main bourse had announced they would buy back shares worth 5.86 trillion won as of July 27, compared with 1.73 trillion won by 24 companies during the same period last year.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said earlier this year that it will buy back shares worth 5.25 trillion won, followed by Samsung Life Insurance Co. with 335.5 billion won and top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. with 174.8 billion won.

Meanwhile, 35 firms listed on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market said in regulatory filings that they will conduct share buybacks worth

453.7 billion won, compared with 96.3 billion won by 23 firms over the cited period, the data showed.

Listed companies often buy back shares when their stocks are deemed undervalued or in a bid to shield against a takeover threat. (Yonhap)