Share buybacks by Chinese firms in the first two-and-a-half months of 2024 have already exceeded all of 2023 by more than 50 percent, soaring to 22.7 billion yuan (HK$24.7 billion) and helping stabilize mainland markets.
Fifty-seven listed companies have announced plans to repurchase shares or cancel them while 30 public enterprises have also joined the buybacks by reducing their registered capital.
The total number of 87 exceeds the total of 55 last year while the buybacks are worth a total of 22.7 billion yuan, up by 59 percent over all of 2023.
When public companies cancel repurchased shares, their total equity falls. So the returns and asset value per share will increase if the market value of the firms stays unchanged.
In January, China Securities Regulatory Commission vice-chairman Wang Jianjun said that companies without reasonable returns are not qualified for buybacks and appealed to public firms to increase their share buybacks and bonuses for investors.
This month, the CSI 300 Index has rallied over 12 percent from its February lows, benefiting from the return of capital from overseas.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-listed companies spent over HK$21 billion in repurchasing shares in January, a record since 2021 when Bloomberg began compiling the data.
