CMC Markets Kicks Off Share Buyback, Spends £30K on the First Day

CMC Markets (LON: CMCX), a major London-listed brokerage firm, has begun to repurchase its shares under its recently launched buyback program. The company purchased 119,000 ordinary shares on Monday, thus kicking off the program.

The broker paid 25 pence for each of the ordinary shares, spending a total of almost £30,000 on the first day. “The Company announces that it has purchased the… ordinary shares of 25 pence each on the London Stock Exchange from RBC Europe Limited,” CMC stated.

Headquartered in London, CMC is operational across the globe and holds many regulatory licenses. Its offerings include trading with currency pairs and contracts for differences (CFDs) of other asset classes, along with spread betting.

A Year-Long Program

The broker announced its intentions to launch a buyback on March 2, but the decision was then pending with the UK regulator. Additionally, on Tuesday, the company confirmed that it has received all necessary approvals and has allocated £30 million for the buyback program.

CMC plans to complete the repurchase of 29,071,747 ordinary shares before the set deadline of 30 June 2023. If it wants to extend the program it needs to seek further regulatory permissions.

With this buyback, the aim of the company is to reduce its share capital. “In light of the Company's robust capital position and having considered the ongoing investment in the business, the Board has decided to return excess capital to shareholders via the repurchase of ordinary shares,” the broker said earlier.

But, CMC is not the only publicly listed broker to repurchase its shares. Plus500, which is headquartered in Israel and listed in London, has been aggressively buying back its shares from the open market for years now. It is still repurchasing its shares under its latest program for which it has allocated $55 million.