Photo/Shetuwang

Nov. 12 (NBD) -- As of last Friday, 557 companies on the A-share market have carried out share buybacks, with 4.05 billion shares worth approximately 34.32 billion (4.94 billion U.S. dollars) having been repurchased in total, according to statistics of Securities Times' new media platform. 

On Sunday night, three other listed companies - Wuxi Honghui New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Jiangxi Fushine Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Wonders Information Co., Ltd. - announced pre-arranged stock repurchase plans.

This came just one day after the release of the opinions on supporting listed companies' share repurchases by China's finance, securities and state-owned assets regulators. 

The new regulation expands the funding sources for stock repurchases, simplifies related procedures, and encourages listed companies to buy back stocks for stock incentive plans or employee stock ownership plans. It is aimed at helping listed companies maintain valuations, enhance risk management capability, and improve overall quality. 

Amid the downward trend of the A-share market, many listed companies chose to stabilize their stock prices through repurchases, thus creating a share buyback boom in 2018. 

It is noteworthy that the number of companies, shares, and total value involved in buyback operations so far this year all hit a record high in the A-share market. 

In particular, the money thrown into stock repurchases year to date was close to the aggregated amount of around 35.03 billion yuan (5.04 billion U.S. dollars) in the past four years. 

Specifically speaking, electrical appliance manufacturer Midea Group spent the most on share repurchases this year, having bought back stocks valued at about 1.83 billion yuan (263.40 million U.S. dollars). China's leading supermarket chain operator Yonghui Superstores followed with approximately 1.63 billion yuan (234.61 million U.S. dollars). Automotive electronics manufacturer Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corporation came third with about 1.61 billion yuan (231.73 million U.S. dollars), and Suning.com Co., Ltd. was in the fourth place with 1 billion yuan (143.93 million U.S. dollars). 

According to formal or pre-arranged repurchase plans that have been announced by listed companies, shares worth 91.42 billion yuan (13.16 billion U.S. dollars) in total will be repurchased in the future.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn