Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has raised the price of its share buyback program to US $ 25 billion, the second increase in less than a year to support shares that have been hit by concerns despite sluggish growth.
The announcement was made by Alibaba, which had previously planned a $ 15 billion share buyback last August, the largest buyback since it went public in 2014.
Following the announcement, Alibaba shares in Hong Kong rose 4.5%.
The share buyback program will be effective for 2 years until March 2024.
According to Toby Xu, Alibaba's Deputy Chief Financial Officer, the increase in the share buyback price signaled the company's confidence in its long -term growth potential and sustainability in creating value.
He added that Alibaba's share price did not reflect the company's value as its financial situation and expansion plans were stronger.
It is common knowledge that the Chinese government is actively rolling out more measures to boost the economy as well as policies that promote capital markets, so it is no wonder why Alibaba suddenly raised the buyback price of the shares.
For the record, Alibaba is said to have repurchased a total of its shares listed in the United States (US) for $ 9.2 billion as of March 18 under the same program.
The company's shares fell in December 2020 after an initial $ 10 billion buyback failed to allay concerns over regulatory crackdowns on e-commerce platforms as well as Jack Ma's financial empire.
Since March 21 last year, Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong have declined nearly 57%, and the situation worsened when Ma openly criticized the Chinese government’s regulatory system.
