Samsung shares rose more than 5 per cent on Monday in response to a Won10tn ($7.2bn) share buyback plan aimed at boosting its stock, which had fallen to four-year lows last week.
The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones announced after Friday’s market close it would buy back stock to “boost its shareholder value” over the next year, including spending Won3tn for share cancellations over the next three months.
Investors hope the buybacks — Samsung’s first since 2017 — will help reverse a steep decline in its share price. Prior to this week, the stock had fallen more than 30 per cent this year amid mounting concerns about the company’s direction under chair Lee Jae-yong, a third-generation leader from its founding family.