ALIBABA INCREASES SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAMME TO $10 BLN, SHARES FALL

Mon 28 December 2020:

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd listed in Hong Kong fell on Monday over 7% to HK$212.20 ($27.37) after the company raised its share repurchase programme to $10 billion from $6 billion.

“This Share Repurchase Program will be effective for a two-year period through the end of 2022,” Alibaba said in a statement late on Sunday.

China’s market regulator launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba last week, part of an accelerating crackdown on anticompetitive behaviour in China’s booming internet space.

Financial regulators on Sunday also urged Ant Group Co, an Alibaba affiliate, to rectify financial regulatory violations, after Chinese regulators abruptly suspended Ant’s blockbuster $37 billion initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Alibaba rival internet companies Meituan fell over 5% and JD.com dropped more than 2%. ($1 = 7.7521 Hong Kong dollars)

-Reuters