2025 Buyback Consideration Surpasses 10-year High

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• For the first 10 months of 2025, close to 80 primary-listed companies in Singapore bought back shares on the open market, with a combined consideration of S$1.91 billion, up ~90% for the same 10-month period in 2024. This excludes off-market share buybacks, buybacks from secondary-listed companies, and unit buybacks by S-REITs.
• The S$1.91 billion surpasses the S$1.89 billion consideration over the full 2015 calendar year, with both years seeing buybacks notch higher amid broad volatility. The 8% STI drop in the first half of April alone coincided with one quarter of the total S$1.91 billion over the past 10 months. 
• 17Live Group has bought back S$6.2 million of its shares this year at an average price of S$0.925, representing 3.4% of its current market capitalisation. In a recent investor presentation, 17Live Group maintained its buyback programme, launched in December 2024, reflects its disciplined approach to capital deployment.

Companies often repurchase shares to support employee compensation plans or to deploy surplus capital more effectively. ACRA notes that buybacks can enhance key financial metrics such as Earnings per Share (EPS) and Return on Equity (ROE), take advantage of perceived undervaluation, and reduce the overall cost of capital.

For the first 10 months of 2025, 78 primary-listed companies in Singapore have collectively repurchased S$1.91 billion worth of shares on the open market—up significantly from S$1.01 billion during the same 10-month period in 2024. This represents a new high for annual buyback considerations since the combined S$1.89 billion consideration in 2015. A bout of significant volatility was the common thread for both years. A 13% drop in the STI between August and September 2015 coincided with half of that year’s total buyback value, while the 8% decline during the first two weeks of April contributed roughly one-quarter of the S$1.91 billion in buybacks so far this year.

Source: SGX (Data as of Oct 31, 2025). Note REIT buybacks excluded in tally from 2022 onwards.

The 10 primary-listed stocks with the highest buyback considerations in the 2025 year to Oct 31 are tabled below. 

Source: SGX (Data as of Oct 31, 2025)

Aside from primary-listed stocks, Hongkong Land has bought back 38.7 million shares this year for a consideration of US$222.9 million, averaging US$5.76 apiece. Stoneweg Europe Stapled Trust has also bought back 2,251,200 units on its current mandate, in addition to 1,505,300 of its units on the previous mandate. On June 10, City Developments executed an off-market equal access scheme, repurchasing 26,800,814 preference shares or 10% of the 268,008,149 shares outstanding—at S$0.78 per share. 

As much as S$1.76 billion (92%) of the S$1.91 billion primary-listed buyback consideration was contributed by 11 stocks with a current market capitalisation of more than S$10 billion. The next tranche of Small and Mid-Cap (SMID) stocks with current market capitalisation of S$100 million to S$10 billion saw S$144 million in total buybacks consideration, while stocks with less than S$100 million market capitalisation booked S$6 million in total buyback consideration. 

The tranche of SMIDs that have conducted buybacks over the past 10 months are tabled below. Note they are sort by the highest ratio of filed buyback considerations to current market capitalisation. 

Source: SGX (Data as of Oct 31, 2025)

The table above is led by 17Live Group and Global Investments (GIL):

• 17Live Group has repurchased S$6.2 million worth of shares this year at an average price of S$0.925, equivalent to 3.4% of its current market capitalisation. The buyback programme, which began in December 2024, was noted in a recent investor presentation to reflect the Group’s disciplined approach to capital deployment.
• GIL repurchased S$4.5 million of its shares at an average price of S$0.126 apiece. GIL is a company registered in Singapore that provides investors access to a diversified portfolio of assets and economic exposures. GIL is managed by Singapore Consortium Investment Management Limited. The mutual fund company seeks to actively manage and grow its assets by investing in a diversified portfolio that delivers steady income and capital appreciation through instruments such as equities, debt, derivatives, and preference shares, excluding direct real estate and commodity investments.

Recent Share Buybacks Among Catalist-Listed Companies

On September 1, Catalist-listed Jason Marine Group conducted its first share buyback since 2015. This followed its FY25 (ended Mar 31) revenue rising 40% to S$48.6 million, from S$34.7 million in FY24, with profit after tax climbing to about S$777,000 from S$180,000, driven by strong project deliveries and a healthy pipeline. The Group also highlighted that its recent order wins—many in offshore wind and renewables—alongside prudent capital management have positioned it for sustained growth, supported by a net cash balance of S$5.3 million as at March 31.

Jason Marine Group is one of 16 of the Catalist-listed stocks that conducted share buybacks over the past 10 months which also included Aspial Lifestyle, Goodwill Entertainment Holding, UnUsUaL, YKGI, Ever Glory United Holdings, Jumbo Group, Eurosports Global, Sanli Environmental, Medinex, ST Group Food Industries Holdings, HC Surgical Specialists, Kimly, iWOW Technology, Ocean Sky International and Hyphens Pharma International.

Ocean Sky International conducted its first buyback on October 14. This followed the Group reporting S$18.0 million revenue for 1HFY25 (ended June 30) compared with S$13.96 million for 1HFY24. This saw the civil engineering, construction and property development business register a profit after income tax of S$0.80 million for 1HFY25, compared with a loss after income tax of S$0.58 million for 1HFY4.

The full table of primary-listed stocks that have conducted buybacks in the 2025 year to Oct 31 are tabled below. 

Source: SGX (Data as of Oct 31, 2025)

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Originally Posted November 3, 2025 – 2025 Buyback Consideration Surpasses 10-year High