Xurpas buying back shares

MANILA, Philippines - Mobile technology firm Xurpas Inc. has purchased 300,000 common shares from the market as part of its buyback program.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, the company said it had repurchased nearly P3 million worth of shares as of Nov. 18.

Last week, Xurpas started buying back P170 million worth of shares to improve the value of its stocks.

Xurpas said the program is aimed at improving shareholder value and is deemed appropriate given the substantial undervaluation of the company’s shares.

The buyback program commenced last Monday and will end upon the full usage of the approved allotment.

The company added it would use its retained earnings to purchase the shares.

Xurpas has a total of 1.8 billion outstanding shares to date.

The buyback program is being executed through the open market via the Philippine Stock Exchange’s trading facilities. It does not involve active and widespread solicitation from stockholders.

Meanwhile, net earnings of Xurpas rose almost 20 percent to P162.38 million for the nine months to September this year amid the continued strong profitability of its mobile consumer services.

Revenues more than doubled to P1.13 billion from P508.65 million in 2015.