Roche buys back over 53 million shares from Novartis

Roche has recently stated that the buyback of Roche shares owned by Novartis has happened.

Roche and Novartis publicized the buyback in early November of this year. On the 26th, Roche Holding Ltd.’s Extraordinary General Meeting authorised the buyback and capital reduction. Over 53 million shares are now re-owned by Roche.

The purchase has no impact on the company’s full-year expectations. Assuming the exchange rates remain the same over the next year, the company anticipates that it will experience a revenue rise by 4-6%. Earnings per Share, which are currently in Swiss currency, are expected to line up with sales growth, with dividends targeted to go up for this year.

Christoph Franz at Roche said that “With this transaction, we regain full strategic flexibility without compromising our operational scope of action. Rating agencies have confirmed the high quality of our ratings. On the basis of an unchanged dividend policy, all holders of Roche equity securities will benefit from the repurchase and the resolved capital reduction by cancellation of the repurchased shares and the earnings accretion resulting therefrom.”