Share buybacks hit decade high at $1.91b in 2025

Leading the buyback totals were UOB ($658.5m), OCBC ($445.0m), and DBS ($371.3m).

Share buybacks by Singapore-listed companies reached a decade high in the first ten months of 2025, totaling $1.91b, according to SGX.

This marks a nearly 90% increase over the same period in 2024 and has already surpassed the previous full-year record of $1.89b set in 2015.

Market volatility contributed to the surge, with an 8% drop in the Straits Times Index (STI) in early April alone accounting for around 25% of this year’s total buybacks to date.

Roughly 78 primary-listed companies conducted on-market share buybacks during the period, excluding REIT unit repurchases. The activity was heavily concentrated in large-cap stocks, which accounted for $1.76b, or 92%, of the total value.

Small- and mid-cap firms (market cap between $100m and $10b) contributed $144m, whilst companies with a market cap below $100m accounted for just $6m.

Leading the buyback totals were UOB ($658.5m), OCBC ($445.0m), and DBS ($371.3m). Other significant contributors included Keppel Corporation, Sembcorp Industries, ST Engineering, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, SGX Group, Olam Group, and SATS.

Among smaller firms, 17Live Group repurchased $6.2m worth of shares at an average price of $0.925, representing about 3.4% of its market cap. Global Investments conducted buybacks totaling $4.48m at an average of $0.126.

Additional repurchases outside the on-market tally included Hongkong Land’s US$222.9m off-market buyback of 38.7 million shares, Stoneweg Europe Stapled Trust’s unit repurchases, and City Developments Ltd’s equal-access scheme, which acquired 26.8 million preference shares at $0.78 each.

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