Actelion announces new share repurchasing scheme

Actelion has received approval from the relevant authorities to launch a new share buyback scheme that will take place over the next three years.

The company will be repurchasing up to ten million shares – 8.76 percent of its currently issued capital – with trading expected to commence on April 9th 2015 and carried out via a second trading line on the SIX Swiss Exchange established for this purpose.

At subsequent annual general meetings, Actelion's board of directors intends to propose that the shares bought through this programme be cancelled, with the issued share capital reduced accordingly.

This comes against the wider backdrop of the firm's ongoing efforts to optimise profitability, which have resulted in a net cash position of almost one billion Swiss francs (687.94 million pounds).

Dr Jean-Paul Clozel, chief executive officer of Actelion, said: "The excellent results we have seen with our pulmonary hypertension portfolio, together with the value created through our discovery and development efforts, gives us confidence in our long-term future."

The company achieved double-digit year-on-year growth in 2014, thanks to strong sales of Opsumit and other products.