AP Moller–Maersk has taken its share buyback efforts past $200m and is now halfway to its target set for the start of November.
Maersk sprang the buyback this spring alongside a fresh dividend policy following the divestment of its energy businesses.
The world’s largest shipowner began investing in its stock at the start of July and has now picked up $38.46m A shares and $163.20m of its more liquid B shares.
TradeWinds had erroneously reported previously that the share buyback was more advanced.
Maersk plans to complete the first tranche of the buyback, running to DKK 3.3bn ($398m), by 1 November.
The full DKK 10bn programme extends for 15-months from the 4 June 2019 launch.
The buyback has helped raise the Maersk share price from below DKK 7,000 per share in June to DKK 7.744 at the time of writing today.
Analysts at Berenberg have tipped the stock to have more room for improvement after the apparent cooling of a trade war between the US and China.
AP Moller revealed the buyback effort in late May at the same time as unveiling a new dividend policy that will see it return 30% to 50% of its underlying results to investors.
The distribution comes after Maersk completed the divestment on its key energy businesses, allowing for greater clarity on how to share proceeds from the sale of Maersk Oil to Total.
