27 Jan 2020 14:54

Novatek buys back shares after 9-month pause

MOSCOW. Jan 27 (Interfax) - Novatek has bought 464,900 shares and GDRs on the open market as part of its buyback program, the gas company said in a statement.

The company last said it had bought back shares in April 2019.

It bought 110,000 shares and 354,900 GDRs in the period January 20-24. One GDR represents 10 shares.

Going by the average share price on the Moscow Exchange for the period, which was 1,219.24 rubles per share, Novatek would have paid around 134.1 million rubles or $2.2 million in total on the shares, and going by the average GDR price of $196.2 per receipt it would have spent around $6.96 million in total on the GDRs.

The whole block of shares would have cost Novatek around $9.2 million.

As a result, the stake held on Novatek's balance sheet increased from 0.826784% to 0.842095%.

The current buyback program, worth up to $600 million, lasts until June 7, 2020.

Novatek Equity (Cyprus) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, through an independent broker purchases shares and/or GDRs on the Moscow Exchange and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) respectively, at market prices at the time of purchase.