Scorpio Tankers and Scorpio Bulkers have each bought back close to $25m in company stock, the owners disclosed in filings after the close of trading in New York today.
Scorpio Bulkers took in $25.2m worth of shares, while the sister tanker company bought back $23.2m, the companies said in separate announcements.
The buys continue a recent spate of share repurchases by New York-listed owners over the holiday period, joining the likes of Euronav, DHT Holdings, Diana Shipping, Golden Ocean Group and Star Bulk.
What makes Scorpio different is the size of the buys.
Scorpio Bulkers bought back 4.2 million shares at an average price of $6.02. That equates to a little more than 6% of all shares outstanding.
Scorpio Tankers scooped up 13.5 million units at an average $1.72. That works out to 2.7% of all outstanding stock.
By comparison, tanker giant Euronav has taken up about 0.76% of its shares after a $3m buy announced earlier today.
As TradeWinds reported this week, analysts have been generally positive on buybacks as a measure of owner confidence in recovering markets, and as sound economics when shares are trading well below companies’ net asset values (NAVs).
At the same time, some pundits question whether a corresponding shrinkage of market capitalisation and trading liquidity offsets some of the benefits.
Scorpio Tankers has in place a $250m authorisation to repurchase securities, but it is not limited to common shares. It also extends to unsecured bonds and convertible notes.
At its last earning report in December, Scorpio Tankers said it had bought back 4.64 million shares during the fourth quarter at an average price of $1.78.
The company has $138.8m of purchasing power remaining under the authorisation at that disclosure.
Scorpio Bulkers said in December that it had taken back about 1.5 million shares at an average cost of $6.84 per share. Then in the fourth quarter, it repurchased about 300,000 shares at $6.60 for a total cost of $11.9m.
That left Scorpio Bulkers with remaining buying power of $18.4m, but its board authorised a new $50m programme on 19 October.
