Samsung Electronics to buy back $1.98 billion worth of its shares

YEREVAN, November 26. / ARKA /. South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it will buy back 2.2 trillion won ($1.98 billion) worth of its shares starting Thursday’s trading session in order to stabilize its stock price, Prime reports citing a company filing. 

The world’s No. 1 maker of smartphones said its stock buyback program aims to “enhance benefits for stock holders through share price stabilization,” apparently referring to the latest plunge in its share price due to lackluster profits from its mainstay mobile devices business.

The program will run through Feb. 26, 2015. Samsung said it will hold the shares for at least six months from the end of the program.

Samsung Electronics said it will buy back 1.65 million common stock and 250,000 preferred stock.

Its operating profit in the mobile sector crashed to 1.75 trillion won in the third quarter from 6.7 trillion won a year ago.

Samsung Electronics took up 24.7 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, plunging from 35 percent a year earlier, according to data compiled by Strategy Analytics.

Samsung Electronics will take up a 12.61 percent stake in Cheil Worldwide, emerging as the No. 2 shareholder and narrowing gap with Samsung C&T Corp., which holds 12.64 percent. Samsung C&T is a trading and construction unit of Samsung Group. -0-