Ayala Land Inc., the property arm of the Ayala Group, said Friday it bought back from the stock market a total 1.15 million shares on Thursday as part of a program to shore up shareholder value.
Since the buyback program started, Ayala Land said it already repurchased through the Philippine Stock Exchange a total 349.9 million shares, nearly half of around 760 million shares held by the property developer in treasury.
Shares held in treasury represent a 4.8 percent stake, a significant interest that Ayala Land may sell to investors to fund future capital requirements.
The shares bought back on Thursday were purchased within the P23.95 to P24.55 price range. In all, Ayala Land shelled out P26.7 million for the stock repurchased on Thursday.
Ayala Land already spent P9.05 billion of the P26.07 billion budgeted for the program, leaving the property developer with around P17 billion in its back pocket to support its share price. The company added P25 billion to its shares buyback program in early 2020.
