Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/06
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang
Taipei, Nov. 6 (CNA) United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) launched a share buyback
SONY DSC
program Tuesday in a bid to prop up its share prices after they plunged the previous day due to an indictment of the company by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Under the share repurchase plan, UMC, the second largest contract chipmaker in Taiwan, said, it will buy up to 300 million shares on the open market at between NT$7.55 (US$0.25) and NT$20.8 per share from Nov. 6 to Jan. 5, 2019.
UMC said it will stick with the share buyback program even if its share price falls below the range it has set.
The buyback decision was approved Monday at a UMC board meeting after the company’s shares plunged by the daily maximum 10 percent Monday to close at NT$10.75 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which ended 0.17 percent lower.
Based on Monday’s closing price, the share buyback program is expected to cost UMC about NT$3.23 billion.
With the launch of the program on Tuesday, UMC shares rebounded to close 1.40 percent higher at NT$10.90, with 209.05 million shares changing hands on the main board, while the broader market fell 0.66 percent. [FULL STORY]
