ENDEAVOUR Mining has renewed its share buy-back programme and had nominated Stifel Nicolaus Europe to manage the programme on its behalf.
Stifel will buy the shares from Endeavour which will then “make trading decisions” under the programme independently of the gold producer “… enabling Stifel to make share purchases at times when Endeavour ordinarily would not be active in the market due to regulatory restrictions, self-imposed trading blackouts or otherwise”, it said.
Shares in Endeavour Mining have gained about 14% this year on the London Stock Exchange and nearly 10% on a 12-month basis. The company is currently capitalised at £4.6bn.
Endeavour first unveiled a buy-back programme in March last year as it turned its attention to shareholder returns following a period of merger and acquisition activity. The share buy-back programme was intended to dovetail with the firm’s maiden dividend of that year.
The group said this year it intended to surprise shareholders with higher than stated dividends. In terms of its progressive dividend policy it has targeted a payout of $150m this year and $170m the year after whilst also keeping the door open to share buy-backs.
As of March, Endeavour bought six million shares at a cost of $137.9m. Including its maiden dividend of 60 US cents in its 2020 financial year, Endeavour said it had returned $338m to shareholders.
“Our strong operating performance generated $1.2bn in operating cash flow which has allowed us to deliver robust shareholder returns while improving our net cash position,” said Sébastien de Montessus, CEO of Endeavour Mining at the firm’s full year results presentation.
