Incomplete Share Repurchase Programs in Vietnam: Completion Rates and Short-Term Returns

Stock repurchases have become a preferred method of distributing cash to stockholders. However, given the high level of information asymmetry and weak corporate governance as well as poor investor protection in Vietnam, many Vietnamese firms use stock repurchases as a tool to manipulate stock prices in the market. Using event study methodology and Tobit regression models, this study examines the stock price behaviors surrounding the event dates and the impact of earnings management activities prior to the stock repurchases on the completion of repurchase announcements in Vietnam. The results show that earnings management practices prior to stock repurchase programs, the percentage of intended buyback shares, and CEO characteristics have a significant impact on the completion of these repurchase programs. Moreover, most of the windows surrounding the event dates do not have any significant abnormal movement of the stock prices. A plausible explanation is that, due to weak corporate governance and poor investor protection, Vietnamese firms send lots of misleading signals through various corporate activities, especially stock repurchase programs. Thus, these signals have less meaning to investors.

Share repurchases, coronaeconomy and stakeholders’ interests

The purpose of the paper is to consider the mechanism of share repurchases in the context of the coronaeconomy and the COVID-19 pandemic. The English- and Russian-language publications discussing share repurchases from the perspective of the stakeholder approach in corporate governance are reviewed. The practice of the Russian firms implementing share repurchase programs is analyzed, with the focus on the companies included in the Sustainable Development Ranking-100. It is concluded that share repurchases should be studied with regard to the impact they have on the interests of a wide range of company’s financial and non-financial stakeholders, and to the mutual influence of buybacks and parameters of sustainable economic development.

Open Market Repurchase Programs - Evidence from Finland

Share repurchase programs have during the past few decades become an important way of distributing cash to shareholders since they are viewed by managers as more flexible than dividends. Open market repurchase authorizations effectively also give managers an option to repurchase shares when they view their stock as undervalued. This study exploits a data set of open market repurchases programs initiated by Finnish stock market listed companies. Finland is unique with regard to the disclosure requirements of open market repurchase programs, which enables an examination of the information content in both the initiation announcement as well as in the announcement of actual repurchases. The study covers all 293 share repurchase programs initiated between 1998 and 2013. The results show a significant positive announcement effect of about 2 percent on the initiation day. The CAAR over a five day event window is also about 1.5 percent (statistically significant). Furthermore, an additional statistically positive effect of 1.5 percent is found on the first repurchase day (about 1.1 percent over a five day event window). The positive announcement effect is larger for announcements regarding initiations of the first or the second repurchase program for a company.

The Determinants of the Value Created by Stock Repurchase Programs

This paper aims to extend the empirical literature on the determinants of the value created by stock repurchase programs by analyzing the characteristics of the repurchase decision-making groups. Based on a sample of 200 US-listed firms from 1998-2004, the paper examines empirically the relationship between value created by stock repurchase programs and board of directors’ characteristics. The analysis depends on panel data analysis to consider unobservable fixed-effects in this relationship. The results provide evidence of a significant relation between board of directors’ characteristics and value created by the stock repurchase programs. The two important determinants are directors’ independence and directors’ outside experience. However, we find that this relationship changed significantly for some measures after the adoption of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Share repurchases: does frequency matter?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in market performance of Swedish firms that initiate repurchase programs infrequently (1-2 programs), occasionally (3-4 programs) and frequently (5 or more programs) over the sample period and examine the relationship between abnormal return and repurchase size in repurchase months. Design/methodology/approach – Standard event study methodology is used to detect abnormal return surrounding initiation announcements of repurchase programs. Ibbotson's RATS-methodology and the calendar-time portfolio methodology are used to estimate long-term abnormal performance. Findings – The authors find differences in market performance of firms that initiate repurchase programs infrequently, occasionally and frequently. As with Jagannathan and Stephens, the authors find that infrequent repurchase programs are greeted with a stronger positive reaction than occasional and frequent programs. However, over long term, infrequent repurchase programs show no abnormal return, while occasional and frequent repurchase programs show a significant positive abnormal return. A positive relationship between abnormal return and repurchase size in repurchase months is documented on average for all types of repurchase programs. Originality/value – By using the detailed data on repurchase activities, the authors are able to examine share repurchases with high precision and relate the performance to repurchase size. Since the duration of a repurchase program is pre-determined in Sweden, the authors are able to classify the programs by frequency and study market performance within the programs.