Sea announces share buyback of up to US$1 billion
The timing and amount of the buybacks will be determined on market conditions and other factors, says company
[SINGAPORE] Consumer Internet company Sea Ltd on Monday (Nov 17) announced a share repurchase programme under which it may buy back up to US$1 billion of its American depositary shares.
“The timing and amount of any share repurchases under the authorisation will be determined based on market conditions and other considerations,” said Sea in a press statement.
The share buyback may include open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, block trades, derivative transactions, trading plans, or any combination of such methods.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed company added that the programme demonstrates its “confidence in its long-term prospects”, and will allow it to opportunistically repurchase its shares.
Morningstar analyst Chelsey Tam said last Wednesday that Sea’s stock remained undervalued, with the “market yet to fully reflect its long-term growth potential”.
Shares of Sea on NYSE closed 0.6 per cent up at US$140.85 on Friday.
It reported a 144.6 per cent rise in its third-quarter earnings to US$375 million on Nov 11, up from US$153.3 million in the year-ago period.
In October, Sea founder Forrest Li told his employees that the company could hit a US$1 trillion market capitalisation at some point, thanks to artificial intelligence.
Sea owns digital entertainment company Garena, e-commerce platform Shopee and the digital financial services firm Monee.
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