On July 2, the latest announcement from Alibaba Group showed that as of the quarter ended June 30, 2024, a total of 613 million shares of common stock (equivalent to 77 million American depositary shares) had been repurchased for a total price of $5.8 billion. In terms of repurchase amount, this is the quarter with the largest repurchase intensity by Alibaba.
The quarter with the highest repurchase intensity
According to the latest announcement disclosed by Alibaba Group's Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as of the quarter ended June 30, 2024, the group repurchased a total of 613 million shares of common stock (equivalent to 77 million American depositary shares) for a total price of 5.8 billion US dollars.
The announcement stated that the above-mentioned repurchase was conducted in the US and Hong Kong markets according to the share repurchase plan, which included approximately 14.8 million American depositary shares repurchased at a price of $80.80 per American depositary share, while the convertible preferred notes were issued on May 23.
As of June 30, 2024, Alibaba Group has 19.024 billion shares of common stock in circulation. Compared to March 31, 2024, the net decrease in circulating ordinary shares was 445 million shares, representing a net decrease of 2.3%.
As of June 30, 2024, there is still a remaining $26.1 billion repurchase amount under Alibaba's share repurchase plan, which is valid until March 2027.
Continuously improving shareholder returns
Just two months ago, when Alibaba announced its fourth quarter and full year results for the 2024 fiscal year, it continued to implement its share buyback plan and continuously improve shareholder returns.
According to the financial report at that time, Alibaba continued to implement its share repurchase plan in the fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year. According to the share repurchase plan, Alibaba repurchased 524 million shares of common stock (equivalent to 65 million American depositary shares) for a total amount of 4.8 billion US dollars, with a significant increase in repurchase efforts compared to the previous quarter.
After considering the issuance of shares under the employee stock ownership plan, Alibaba's outstanding shares decreased by 2.6% in the fourth quarter.
Overall, in the fiscal year 2024, Alibaba repurchased a total of 1.249 billion shares of common stock (equivalent to 156 million American depositary shares) for a total of $12.5 billion. After considering the shares issued under the employee stock ownership plan, the repurchase resulted in a net decrease of 5.1% in Alibaba's outstanding shares.
Alibaba Group Chief Financial Officer Xu Hong previously stated that the group's strong investment in strategic priority businesses has shown initial results, and he is confident in the business prospects and will continue to fulfill his commitment to improving shareholder returns.
Source: Securities firm China
