General Motors said Tuesday its board approved a fresh repurchase authorization to buy back up to $6 billion worth of the automaker’s common stock, a month after beating Wall Street estimates in the first quarter on strong demand for gas-powered vehicles.
“We are very focused on the profitability of our ICE [internal combustion engine] business, we’re growing and improving the profitability of our EV [electric vehicle] business and deploying our capital efficiently,” GM executive vice president and CFO Paul Jacobson said in a statement announcing the move. “This allows us to continue returning cash to shareholders.”
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GM previously announced a $10 billion share buyback in November, and said Tuesday that roughly $1.4 billion in capacity remains under that agreement. In the first quarter, the company repurchased $300 million shares, and plans to buy back the remaining $1.1 billion by the end of the second quarter.
The Detroit automaker did not give a time frame for the latest buyback but said the move will allow it to “opportunistically repurchase shares” after the completion of the existing plan.
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Shares of the company, which has a market capitalization of nearly $54 billion, were up 1.8% in early trading. They have risen about 50% since GM announced the $10 billion stock buyback in late November.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | GENERAL MOTORS CO. | 48.09 | +0.51 | +1.07% |
It had raised its dividend by 33% to 12 cents per share in January.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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