Sony plans 100b yen share buy-back

Sony Corp is buying back as much as 100 billion yen ($910 million) of its own stock, the electronics maker’s first-ever large scale repurchase.

The shares rose 4.1 per cent in Tokyo yesterday after the company announced the buy-back, which starts Tuesday and will last through March 22.

The repurchase makes up 2.4 per cent of the stock, and comes days after Japanese telecoms and technology giant SoftBank Group Corp announced a record 600 billion yen buy-back. Sony has been seeking to strength its financial footing under Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida, who was promoted from chief financial officer last year. Last week, Sony reported weaker profits in the PlayStation business and cut its annual revenue forecast, triggering the steepest share drop in almost three and a half years.

‘Strong message’

“It seems they were perturbed by the steep stock decline,” said Masahiro Wakasugi, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. “They’re watching the stock price, cash flow is strong and they have the financial resources to carry this out. So it’s a strong message to investors.”

Before yesterday’s buyback announcement, Sony’s stock had declined 14 per cent over the week, to its lowest since October 2017. The shares climbed 4.8 per cent in 2018. The company last bought 6.3 billion yen worth of its own stock in 2004, related to its decision to fully merge PlayStation subsidiary Sony Computer Entertainment into the parent company.

Sony’s results underscore the struggle at big technology companies, which are seeing slowing demand for their products and services.