THE board of casual-dining restaurant operator Max’s Group Inc. has approved the company’s P350-million stocks-repurchase program, which will be implemented over a two-year period.
The company said the amount is equivalent to about 2.2 percent of the company’s total outstanding shares, based on a closing price of P14.54 per share on February 3.
“This is in line with the corporation’s cash-management activities seen to benefit shareholders in the long term. The program commences on February 04, 2016, until February 03, 2018,” the company said.
Since the start of the year, various listed firms have launched their respective buyback programs as share prices at the Philippine Stock Exchange fall.
Buyback is a measure initiated by a company in a move to reduce the number of shares on the market. Companies will buy back shares either to increase the value of shares available as it reduce supply, or to eliminate any threats by shareholders who may be looking for a controlling stake. Astro del Castillo, president and managing director of First Grade Finance Inc., said the companies are taking advantage of the situation of lower prices to boost the confidence of investors and company shareholders. “It’s a good investment, as well, given the prospects that it may reap in the future,” he said in an earlier interview.
Max’s earlier said it inked a development agreement with China’s ZhongFa Group to build at least 15 Yellow Cab Pizza stores in the world’s second-biggest economy within the next five years.
“We are thrilled with the opportunity of bringing our pizza to Beijing, Tianjin and parts of Hebei province. We share the excitement with our partner, the ZhongFa Group, to serve our food offerings to the Chinese,” Max’s President and CEO Robert Trota said.
This is the sixth deal the company announced since last year, when it started a series of deals that mainly export its stable of acquired restaurant brands, such as Pancake House, a brand that mainly targets the broader segment of the public and not just Filipinos.
Max’s said it posted an income of P313.1 million in the first nine months of 2015. The income was a turnaround from last year’s pro-forma loss of P31.36 million, it said.
The earnings pertain to the results of the merged operations of Max’s entities and Pancake House Group for the nine-month period.
As of end-September, consolidated revenues rose 6 percent to P7.3 billion from last year’s, while system-wide sales reached P10.4 billion, up 7 percent from the previous year.