Bristol Myers-Squibb announces large share repurchase programme

Bristol Myers-Squibb has announced plans to buy back billions of dollars worth of its common stock.

The board of directors at the company have authorised the repurchase of stock worth up to $3 billion (2.03 billion pounds) as a result of the firm’s strong results for the first quarter of the year.

Bristol Myers-Squibb had around $9.8 billion worth of cash and marketable securities on its balance sheet at the end of the three-month period.

The firm said that the repurchasing programming is set to take place over the course of the next few years, with no date publicly set for the scheme to end.

“While executing the stock repurchase programme, the company is committed to retaining the financial strength and flexibility it needs to support its dividend [and] invest in its core BioPharma business,” said a company statement.

When announcing its first-quarter results last month, Bristol Myers-Squibb stated that its double-digit sales growth for the period had been achieved partly due to the success of its Plavix drug.