Buyback and increased holdings! Listed companies are taking action intensively!

With the A-share market continuing to experience ongoing volatility and readjustment in recent days, listed companies’ share repurchase and increase-in-stake actions have shown signs of gathering momentum.

Data show that as of April 4, more than 50 listed companies have disclosed in the current year the use of dedicated loan funds for share repurchases or shareholder share increases. Based on the upper limits of the repurchase or increase amounts, the figure exceeds 30 billion yuan. Among them are industry leaders such as Midea Group, Haier Smart Home, and BOE A. For a single company, the upper limit for its repurchase amount breaks through 10 billion yuan, sending a strong signal that the capital market is “backed by real money.”

Industry insiders point out that when listed companies use lower-cost loans for stock repurchases and share increases, it not only increases market liquidity, but also helps strengthen investors’ confidence in the company and in the market, while stabilizing the stock price and market sentiment. It will also guide funds to invest in high-dividend-yield assets and cultivate the concept of long-term value investing.

**　　Industry leaders spearhead the wave of repurchases and share increases**

Recently, it has become increasingly common for industry leaders to repurchase large quantities of their own shares and to increase their stakes.

On April 3, BOE A, a leading company in the display panel industry, issued an announcement stating that the company received a “Loan Commitment Letter” issued by the Beijing Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited. The Beijing Branch of ICBC committed to provide the company with dedicated loan funds of no more than RMB 5 billion and no more than 90% of the repurchase transaction consideration for the company’s share repurchases.

According to the repurchase plan disclosed in the announcement, the company plans to use self-raised funds to repurchase its stock of RMB 3.6 billion—6.3 billion via centralized bidding, with a repurchase price not exceeding RMB 6.00 per share. The company said that all shares repurchased this time will be used to implement the company’s equity incentive plan. If the company fails to implement the equity incentive plan within 36 months after the completion of the share repurchase, any unused portion will go through the relevant procedures to be canceled.

Meanwhile, at the end of March this year, leading companies in the home appliances sector, Midea Group and Haier Smart Home, also released large-scale repurchase plans. Midea Group’s announcement stated that it plans to repurchase A-share stocks of no more than RMB 13 billion and no less than RMB 6.5 billion through centralized bidding. The source of funds is the company’s own funds and/or dedicated stock repurchase专项贷款 (special-purpose loan) provided by Bank of China. The loan amount shall not exceed 90% of the actual repurchase amount, and the term shall not exceed 3 years.

Based on the iFinD data from 同花顺 (as整理) compiled by the reporter, if the repurchase amount upper limit is used to calculate, the total amount of 11.7 billion yuan for this repurchase and share-increase loan will be the largest case in terms of bank dedicated loan amounts since the establishment of the October 2024 stock repurchase and share-increase relending facility for repurchases and share increases. It can be described as the “largest-ever stock repurchase loan in scale.”

Another giant in the home appliances industry, Haier Smart Home, plans to repurchase shares worth RMB 3 billion to RMB 6 billion via centralized bidding, with a repurchase price not exceeding RMB 35 per share. The announcement shows that the shares repurchased this time will be used for an employee stock ownership plan, and the repurchase period will be within 12 months from the date when the board’s deliberation and approval are passed.

Haier Smart Home said that the sources of funds for this repurchase are the company’s own funds and/or self-raised funds, including dedicated stock repurchase loan funds. Recently, the company has received a “Financing Commitment Letter” issued by the Qingdao Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. The latter committed to provide loan funds of up to RMB 5 billion, dedicated to the company’s repurchase of shares, with a loan term of 3 years.

Under the leading and demonstration role of industry leaders, since the beginning of this year, listed companies have shown a surge in enthusiasm to conduct repurchase or share-increase activities with the help of loans. As of now, 56 listed companies have disclosed plans to use loans for repurchases or share increases, with cumulative upper-limit amounts totaling RMB 29.46B.

Specifically, among these 56 companies, 46 have clearly stated that the loan funds will be dedicated to share repurchases. The upper limit for the repurchase amount in this portion reaches RMB 210.51B, accounting for as much as 92.44% of the total amount, highlighting that loan-funded repurchases have become an important way for listed companies to use financial instruments to stabilize share prices and enhance market confidence.

At the same time, controlling shareholders of companies such as Anhui Conch Cement (Conch Cement), Tongrentang? Wait: “片仔癀” and “博威合金” are not translated; they are proper names—translate? In American English, keep as company names in English transliteration if established. However no specific instruction. We’ll translate: “Pfizer?": We’ll transliterate. Continuing: Luo?—The controlling shareholders of companies such as Conch? and PZX and Bowei Alloy also took active action, increasing their companies’ shares by applying for loans, demonstrating their strong confidence in the company’s future development with practical actions and injecting a “confidence booster” into the market.

**　　Loan relending for repurchases and share increases exceeds RMB 210 billion**

As an important measure to support and maintain stable operation of the capital market, the stock repurchase and share-increase relending facility has, since its creation in October 2024, continued to increasingly demonstrate its function in stabilizing the capital market.

According to data from 同花顺 iFinD, since the release of related policies for the stock repurchase and share-increase relending facility, as of April 4, in the A-share market, a total of 758 listed companies and their major shareholders have released 857 announcements involving the repurchase and share-increase relending facility. Based on the upper limit of loan amounts, the total amount of the stock repurchase and share-increase relending facility is RMB 210.508 billion.

Specifically, Midea Group ranked first with an upper-limit loan amount of RMB 21.7 billion for repurchase and share increases. In addition to the repurchase and share-increase loan of RMB 11.7 billion announced at the end of March this year, Midea Group also issued a repurchase plan of no more than RMB 10 billion and no less than RMB 5 billion at the end of March 2025. In that plan, China Bank would provide loan funds of no more than RMB 9 billion, dedicated to the company’s stock repurchase, with a loan term of no more than 3 years.

At the end of 2025, Midea Group announced that as of December 8, 2025, the company had cumulatively repurchased 135 million shares, paying a total amount of RMB 10 billion. The amount of shares repurchased had already reached the upper limit of RMB 10 billion set in the repurchase plan, and the implementation of this repurchase plan was completed.

Meanwhile, the repurchase and share-increase loan amounts for industry leaders such as BOE A, Yangtze Power, and Haier Smart Home are also not low, among which the repurchase and share-increase loan amounts for BOE A and Yangtze Power are both above RMB 7 billion.

Bao Xiaohui, Chairman of Changli Asset and an investment director, told reporters that under the support of the stock repurchase and share-increase relending facility, listed companies can, when the market experiences severe volatility, use repurchases and share-increases to reduce the number of shares in public circulation, ease downward pressure on share prices, and respond to market volatility brought by external shocks. At the same time, it sends investors a signal that the company is confident about its long-term development. In addition, the stock repurchase and share-increase relending facility can also provide listed companies with low-cost funding, boosting the willingness of operating entities to carry out repurchases and share increases, thereby improving listed companies’ financing and investment capabilities.

Bao Jingang, fund manager and senior researcher at Rongzhi Investment, also pointed out when interviewed by reporters that when listed companies and their major shareholders repurchase and increase their holdings, they convey the management’s confidence in the company’s future development to the market. This helps stabilize investors’ sentiment and enhance market confidence. Meanwhile, by guiding prices through policy, more funds will flow to high-quality enterprises with stable performance and growth potential, strengthening the market’s allocation of resources to leading companies, and thereby promoting the company’s share price to return to a reasonable level.

(Source: Securities Times)