Fresh produce company Total Produce has announced that it has purchased 22m of its own shares, a move preceded by an earlier statement confirming it was considering such a move.
In a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange, the commpany revealed it had acquired the shares, all of them ordinary shares, in the market at a price of €0.39 per share on 23 November 2010.
Total Produce is permitted to purchase its own shares under the authority granted to it by shareholders at its annual general meeting on20 May 2010.
Once any shares in the company have been reacquired, Total Produce has the option of either cancelling the shares or holding them as so-called treasury shares.
The move echoes a similar course of action taken last week by fellow Irish company Fyffes, which bought back 17m (5 per cent) shares late on Thursday, 18 November 2010.
Total Produce company secretary Marie Reid said the group's board had reached the conclusion that acquiring its own shares would be a beneficial undertaking.
'Having regard to the current share price and the positive effect of purchasing shares on earnings per share, the board believes that it may be in the best interests of the company to exercise its buy back authority,' she said.
