#Sweden #Stockholm #Essity Aktiebolag #Class B shares #stock buyback

Essity's Class B Share Buyback in Early 2025

In the week spanning January 7 to January 10, 2025, Essity Aktiebolag (publ), a leading global hygiene and health company, executed a significant repurchase of 216,000 of its own Class B shares under the buyback program approved by its Board of Directors. This transaction is part of a broader plan involving a SEK 3 billion buyback initiative announced previously on June 17, 2024.

Background of the Share Buyback Program

The ongoing buyback program aims to enhance shareholder value and is designed to be implemented in accordance with the European Union's Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and the Delegated Regulation 2016/1052 by the European Commission, often referred to as the 'Safe Harbour Regulation'. The decision to repurchase shares affirms Essity's commitment towards a disciplined capital allocation strategy, which includes a routine assessment of buying back shares as a means of returning capital to shareholders. This approach demonstrates confidence in the company's underlying operational performance and cash flow generation capabilities.

Details of the Transactions

The specific details entailed the following:

• - On January 7, a total of 54,000 shares were repurchased at an average price of SEK 294.57, translating to a daily transaction value of approximately SEK 15.91 million.
• - On January 8, another set of 54,000 shares were bought back with a weighted average price of SEK 296.46, amounting to SEK 16.01 million.
• - The activities continued with similar volumes of shares on January 9 and January 10, with the prices reflecting minor fluctuations in the market.

The cumulative totals indicate that during the second week of January 2025, Essity acquired a total of 216,000 Class B shares at an average price of SEK 295.60, leading to an overall investment of roughly SEK 63.85 million. Since the inception of the buyback program, the total number of shares repurchased by Essity has reached a remarkable 7,722,000, with expenditures exceeding SEK 2.31 billion.

Current Holdings and Future Plans

Following the recent transactions, as of January 10, 2025, Essity now holds 7,722,000 treasury shares. The company has a total of 702,342,489 shares outstanding, which includes 59,973,654 Class A and 642,368,835 Class B shares. The company is poised to continue share repurchase activities, driven by a focus on maintaining robust cash flows post dividend payouts while concurrently enhancing shareholder value over time.

Conclusion

This proactive approach indicates Essity's strategic investment in its own equity, reflecting both confidence in its business model and a commitment to delivering returns to its shareholders. Investors will undoubtedly look forward to more updates regarding further share buyback initiatives as part of Essity's long-term corporate strategy.