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Global buy-backs hit record but mainland China, Hong Kong see declines: Capital Group

The repurchases, along with AI gains, help propel global equities to fresh peaks in 2025, asset manager says

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Buy-backs can be an efficient way to return surplus cash to investors once investment needs and balance sheets are funded, according to an analyst. Photo: Shutterstock
Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Global stock buy-backs rose to a record US$1.46 trillion in 2025, as listed companies stepped up efforts to return cash to public shareholders amid a rally in equities, according to US asset-management firm Capital Group.

Repurchases by the world’s largest publicly traded companies tracked by the money manager increased 8.4 per cent year on year, representing a net increase of US$113 billion, Capital Group said in a report released on Wednesday. The US led global buy-backs, accounting for 71 per cent of the total value, while such activities fell in mainland China and Hong Kong because of higher bases a year earlier, it said.

“Share buy-backs are no longer a US-centric phenomenon,” said Katharine Dryer, equity asset class lead for Europe and Asia at Capital Group. “Buy-backs can be an efficient way to return surplus cash to investors once investment needs and balance sheets are funded. When priced and timed well, buy-backs can meaningfully enhance shareholder outcomes.”

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Buy-backs refer to listed companies repurchasing their own shares and then cancelling them as a way to return value to public shareholders and boost earnings per share.

Repurchases, alongside the boom in artificial intelligence and the resilience of economic growth, drove global stocks to a record last year, when the MSCI world index rose by 21 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 16 per cent.
Stock repurchases dropped 35 per cent from a year ago in mainland China, among the biggest declines in key markets. Photo: EPA
Stock repurchases dropped 35 per cent from a year ago in mainland China, among the biggest declines in key markets. Photo: EPA

Some 52 per cent of the 1,600 listed companies tracked by Capital Group carried out buy-backs last year, compared with 36 per cent a decade ago, according to the report. But the move was concentrated among large companies, which made up nearly one-third of the repurchases worldwide, it said.

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