Samsung Electronics to buy back $1.7bn worth of treasury shares

(Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics Co. said on Wednesday that it will purchase treasury shares worth about 2.5 trillion won ($1.72 billion) to spend for employee stock-based compensation.

In a board meeting held on Wednesday, Samsung Electronics decided to buy back a total of 18 million shares from January 8 to April 7.

The buyback value is based on Tuesday’s closing price of 138,900 won per share. The actual number of shares purchased may change depending on future stock price movements.

Samsung Electronics noted that the buyback is intended to be used for stock-based compensation, including the performance-linked stock unit (PSU) program introduced in October last year, as well as performance incentives such as excess profit incentive (OPI) system.

The PSU program is a newly introduced scheme separate from the existing OPI system. Its key feature is that employee compensation increases in proportion to the rise in the company’s stock price.

Under Samsung Electronics’ PSU program, employees will receive treasury shares based on the extent of the company’s stock price appreciation over the next three years.