Purchase of own shares out-of-date

The purchase of own shares seems to be out-of-date in Belgium, with the exception of the holding NPM and Colruyt. NPM and Colruyt are the only two companies who still buy their own shares on a large scale with the intention to destroy them afterwards. In times of financial crisis, Bel20- companies prefer the storage of cash above the purchase and destruction of their own shares. The purchasing activity that slowed down is in sharp contrast to the purchasing rage of 2007-2008, when cash was used to purchase millions of Euros of own shares.

Beeckman Pieter