Stock buybacks more than triple from year ago

[THE INVESTOR] The value of stocks subjected to buyback programs so far this year has more than tripled on both Kospi and Kosdaq, compared to the same period last year, market data showed on Aug. 1.

According to the data released by the Korea Exchange, the value of Kospi-traded stocks bought back by the issuer came to over 5.86 trillion won (US$5.27 billion) as of July 27, rising 237.9 percent from a year ago.

The figure for Kosdaq companies came to 453.7 billion won, up 370.6 percent from a year ago.

Of the total for Kospi- and Kosdaq-traded stocks repurchased by the issuer, Samsung Electronics accounted for 83 percent, having declared that it will buyback more than 5.25 trillion won worth of its stocks. The company said that the repurchased stocks will be canceled.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)