Latest news with #buybacks
Skift
2 days ago
- Business
- Skift
MakeMyTrip Raises $3.1 Billion to Shrink Trip.com Group's Stake
MakeMyTrip is decisively paring its long‑time investor's stake on the business. And as more buybacks could come before year‑end, Group's influence looks set to keep shrinking. MakeMyTrip on Tuesday said it raised around $3.1 billion as part of its plans to repurchase shares from China's Group, which at one point owned more than 45% of the company. MakeMyTrip said in a stock exchange filing last month that it was raising money to buy back shares, and after several repurchases during the quarter, stake is down to 16.9%. MakeMyTrip said it is open to doing more buybacks later this year. "We'll remain open to kind of dipping into further buyback even in the rest of year because we haven't really deployed directly from the balance sheet through the quarter," MakeMyTrip Chief Financial Officer Mohit Kabra said during an earnings call Tuesday. Following the announcement, Skift accessed the company's 6-K filing with the U.S. SEC, which also revealed a board overhaul. right to nominate directors on MakeM
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Citi Shares Climb to Highest Since 2008 on Stock Buyback Plan
Citigroup Inc. shares rose to the highest level since 2008 after the bank said it would ramp up stock buybacks following a strong result in regulatory stress tests. The bank plans to repurchase at least $4 billion of shares this quarter, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said Tuesday on a call with analysts. That's more than the $3.75 billion the firm bought back in the entire first half of the year, and the plans helped push the stock briefly past $90 for the first time since the financial crisis.
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
FTSE 100 dividend growth continues to dry up amid buyback boom
Dividend growth for the FTSE 100 has staggered to a halt in 2025, slipping from its all-time high in 2018 as UK companies instead favour buybacks. FTSE 100 firms are expected to payout some £80.4billion in 2025, down from a previous forecast of £83billion three months ago. This is a forward dividend yield of 3.5 per cent for the current year, according to investment platform AJ Bell. These dividend payments represent an increase of just two per cent compared to 2024. In 2018, FTSE 100 dividends hit an all-time high of £85.2billion. This stagnation in dividend growth comes as the UK's largest firms increasingly choose to carry out share buybacks instead of dividends as a way to return value to shareholders. Historically, the opposite has been the case, with UK firms generally having favoured dividends in the past. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'In terms of dividend growth, analysts seem to think that big increases will be a relative rarity in 2025, perhaps because buybacks are playing a big role in capital allocation plays – a board and chief executive are likely to draw less flak for a pause in a buyback than they are for a dividend cut.' Mould added: 'Investors also need to bear in mind the role of the pound, whose strength against the euro and particularly the dollar this year reduces the value in sterling terms of the dividends declared in those currencies by no fewer than 28 current members of the FTSE 100.' Cutting a dividend is often seen as a bad sign for the company making the move, especially if the dividend has previously been increasing consistently. The same is not so much the case with buybacks. So far, FTSE 100 constituents have declared some £39billion in share buybacks, well over half of last years record figure. Buybacks can generally be taken to mean a company thinks its own shares are undervalued, though of course company bosses aren't always right. In 2024, the same firms bought back more than £58billion, setting a new record high. Companies buy their shares back in order to reduce the number outstanding and boost their earnings per share. Repurchased shares can be cancelled or held in treasury by the company. Together with dividends, the uptick in buybacks means the total expected payout from the FTSE 100 will be £119.4billion. AJ Bell said the total payout of buybacks and dividends combined equates to a cash yield of 5.25 per cent of the index's £2.3trillion valuation. Mould said: 'That cash yield beats inflation, the 10-year gilt yield and the Bank of England base rate which, on balance, still seems set to go lower before it goes higher once more. With the increase in buybacks, the FTSE 100's attractive dividend yield is now falling onto the shoulders of just a small number of the index's constituents. Mould added: 'For income-seekers, the FTSE 100's yield may be a key part of the UK stock market's appeal, but investors must be aware of how the forward yield is shrinking as the index makes gains and dividend payments gently decline. 'There also remains a fair degree of concentration risk within the UK's headline index.' The top ten dividend payers in the FTSE 100 are expected to pay out 53 per cent of 2025's total, giving back £42.4billion to shareholders. The top 20 firms combined will pay out 69 per cent, around £55.7billion, of the estimated total. NatWest is forecast to grow its dividend the most, by £532million in 2025, with Unilever increasing its dividend by an expected £210million, while Admiral will boost its own by £177million. Meanwhile, a number of firms are keeping their dividend growth consistent, with Severn Trent, Coca-Cola HBC and LondonMetric Property have all increased their dividends consistently over the past nine years, meaning they are set to join the 17 firms in the index that have dividend increase streaks of more than a decade. Just nine of these firms were in the FTSE 100 ten years ago. 2025 dividend forecast Ten largest forecast increases £ million Ten largest forecast decreases £ million NatWest Group 532 WPP 10 Unilever 210 BP 21 Admiral Group 177 Beazley 21 Fresnillo 151 AstraZeneca 50 GSK 145 Diageo 56 Rolls Royce 145 Berkeley 57 National Grid 136 Anglo American 123 Lloyds 129 Shell 345 BAE Systems 88 HSBC 487 Barclays 75 Rio Tinto 561 Source: Company accounts, Marketscreener, consensus analysts' forecasts. Ordinary dividends only. Mould said: 'If anything, history suggests that it is dividend growth that is the real nectar for share price, as a growing pay-out will drag it higher over time.' 'Any investor looking for the next generation of dividend growth winners may need to dig into the FTSE 250.' However, notably absent are any special dividend declarations so far this year. In 2024, HSBC, Fresnillo, Berkeley Group, Associated British Foods and Admiral all declared these, distributing a combined £3.7billion to shareholders. Mould said: 'Any similar distributions could further top up the cash pot, as could any merger and acquisition activity. 'A predator is yet to circle a FTSE 100 member in 2025, but buyers of UK assets have tabled bids worth a total of £20 billion already this year, after £49 billion-worth of successful approaches in 2024. 'Takeover deals can therefore also add to the total return from the UK equity market overall.'
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bank Stocks Near Record With Buyback, Dividend Boosts on Horizon
(Bloomberg) -- US bank stocks closed at their highest level in three years as investors continued to pile into the group amid speculation they will begin to boost buybacks and dividends after the lenders comfortably cleared the Federal Reserve's stress test last week. Struggling Downtowns Are Looking to Lure New Crowds Sprawl Is Still Not the Answer California Exempts Building Projects From Environmental Law The KBW Bank Index rose 1.5% Tuesday, closing at the highest level since February 2022 and under 4% from its early 2022 all-time high. The gauge posted a ninth consecutive day of gains, matching its longest winning streak on record. All but two of the gauge's 24 members were higher, led by Western Alliance Bancorp, East West Bancorp Inc. and Zions Bancorp NA. Tuesday's rally coincided with a breather for the broader market — which had closed at consecutive records — as investors rotated out of technology shares and into relatively safer pockets of the market. A basket of value stocks outperformed a basket of momentum stocks by nearly 2 percentage points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Banks headed into the week on strong footing after all lenders subjected to the Fed's annual stress tests passed comfortably, setting the stage for the group to boost buybacks and dividends for shareholders. The results showed 'much better than expected declines in stress capital buffers at all our banks,' JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts including Vivek Juneja wrote in a note. 'Expect the large decrease in capital requirements to likely drive increased share buybacks at all the banks that saw a decrease.' Meanwhile, analysts at Raymond James anticipate total payouts to 'modestly increase,' adding that they 'view the stress test results to be a net positive and should garner increasing investor interest in the sector.' With quarterly earnings ahead, the easing of bank capital rules upcoming, loosening regulations and elevated interest rates at play US banking stocks are primed to keep ripping higher. Hedge funds are also see further room to run, snapping up shares at a furious pace. It's the rebound that many investors had been waiting for following President Donald Trump's November reelection, which many expected to usher in a wave of banking deregulation and pro-business policies. That was before he unleashed a global trade war in April that briefly knocked the industry off course. The 'results of this year's stress test is more evidence that this period is the most positive regulatory change for banks in 3 decades,' Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo wrote in a note. Goldman Sachs was the big test winner, along with JPMorgan, Bank of America and M&T Bank Corp, he said. (Updates with closing shares.) SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried How to Steal a House China's Homegrown Jewelry Superstar Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
01-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bank Stocks Near Record With Buyback, Dividend Boosts on Horizon
US bank stocks rose to their highest level in three years as investors continued to pile into the group amid speculation they will begin to boost buybacks and dividends after the lenders comfortably cleared the Federal Reserve's stress test last week. The KBW Bank Index gained as much as 1.6% Tuesday, hitting the highest level since February 2022 and about 4% from its early 2022 all-time high. The gauge is also on pace for a ninth consecutive day of gains, matching its longest winning streak on record. All but four of the gauge's 24 members were higher, led by Western Alliance Bancorp, Zions Bancorp NA and East West Bancorp Inc.
