Register to get free articles
Want unlimited access? View Plans
Already have an account? Sign in
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has announced that it is set to commence a £60m shares buyback scheme commencing today (4 May 2021).
Lasting until the end of the group’s financial year on 25 April 2021, the programme will see up to 10 million ordinary shares purchased at an aggregate price of no greater than £60m.
The group said that the buyback programme has been introduced to “reduce the share capital of the company”.
The decision follows a recent announcement by the owner of Sports Direct and House of Frasers that claimed it expects to take a Covid-19 related financial hit of £200m.
This figure represented double the firm’s February prediction, as the group predicted ongoing restrictions to continue impacted trade.
In a stock exchange statement, Frasers Group said: “In our ongoing assessment we note the continuing government and government advisor pronouncements regarding ‘third waves’ and normality being ‘some way off’, meaning further restrictions are in our view almost certain.”
The buyback scheme will be conducted in accordance with the general authority to repurchase shares granted at the group’s 2020 AGM, and any shares repurchased by the company will be held in treasury pending cancellation or re-issue.
