AXAHY AXA SA (QX)

By Christian Moess Laursen

Stock buybacks continued in the U.K. and across Europe this week, with at least ten companies announcing plans to repurchase shares. Here is a look at companies that announced buybacks this week:

-- U.K. bank Lloyds Banking Group PLC said Wednesday that it intends to launch a 2.0-billion pounds ($2.40 billion) share buyback. On Thursday, the lender said the buyback would start next week and end Dec. 29.

-- Eni SpA, an Italian oil-and-gas major, said Thursday it would launch a 2.2 billion-euro ($2.33 billion) share buyback in 2023, equivalent to around 4.5% of shares in issue at the current share price, following shareholder approval in May.

-- Stellantis NV, the European car maker that owns the Jeep and Dodge brands, said Wednesday it approved a buyback program of up to EUR1.5 billion to be executed in open market by the end of 2023.

-- French insurer AXA SA said Thursday it launched a share-buyback program of up to EUR1.1 billion, expected to be completed by year end.

-- German reinsurer Munich Re AG said Wednesday that it plans to buy back shares worth up to EUR1 billion, and that the program will run from May 6 to next year's annual general meeting, at the latest.

-- Wolters Kluwer NV, a Dutch provider of professional information services, said Wednesday that it intends to buy back up to EUR1 billion in shares during 2023, matching its buybacks in 2022.

-- U.K.-listed InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, which owns the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotel brands, said Tuesday that it was launching a $750 million share buyback program over the course of 2023.

-- French construction-materials company Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA said Thursday it would allocate EUR400 million to buybacks this year.

-- Howden Joinery Group PLC, a U.K.-listed maker of kitchen and joinery products, said Thursday that it launched a GBP50 million share buyback. Last year, the company completed a GBP250 million share buyback.

-- Danish biotechnology company Genmab AS said Wednesday that it is initiating a share buy-back program to buy up to 220,000 shares starting on Feb. 23 and to end on March 31. In August, the company completed a buyback of 835.3 million Danish kroner ($118.9 million) for 342,500 shares.

-- This week's stock-repurchase announcements come after a string of companies said they would launch buyback programs earlier in the earnings season, including French bank BNP Paribas SA, German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz Group AG, British energy giant Shell PLC and Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk AS.

Write to Christian Moess Laursen at christian.moess@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2023 08:43 ET (13:43 GMT)

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