How to Read Buyback Disclosures: Plans vs. Actual Purchases
Check the amount, quantity, period, and purpose of a share repurchase decision. Connect disclosures while distinguishing trust contract limits, actual purchases, completion reports, and cancellation plans.
A share repurchase decision disclosure describes a future acquisition plan, so the entire announced amount should not be treated as already spent. Read the planned quantity and amount, acquisition period, and purpose, then connect them with actual results disclosures. A trust contract amount also does not itself equal the value of shares immediately purchased.
Check what the amount and quantity actually specify
A disclosure may provide both a planned share count and a planned purchase amount. The reference price used for the estimate can differ from actual execution prices, so do not infer the final quantity from the amount alone. Check units when separating common and other shares and when adding existing holdings. Start by placing the maximum authorized spending, target quantity, and actual acquisition amount in separate columns.
Direct purchases and trust arrangements may require different documents
The documents used to verify execution status differ depending on whether the company purchases directly or through a trust contract. Connect contract signing, amendments, termination, and actual acquisition results chronologically. The Financial Services Commission’s 2026 explanation also covers holding and returning shares acquired through trusts and preventing circumvention of cancellation obligations. Do not assume older descriptions of unrestricted disposals during a trust arrangement apply to the current structure; check the specific contract and current disclosures.
Track the purpose and treatment after completion
Check whether the acquisition purpose is shareholder returns or includes other approved purposes. If subsequent treatment differs from the plan, read amendments and follow-up resolutions. Cancellation requires verification separately from acquisition, so do not mark it completed based on an announcement alone. Even when disclosure titles repeat, comparing filing reference numbers and original documents helps distinguish amendments to the same plan from new plans and reduce double counting.
If purchases are executed in installments, the average execution price will not match a single market closing price. First calculate the average price by dividing total acquisition cost by total shares in the results report. Later prices can inform an assessment of the company’s purchase timing, but the price the next day alone does not determine long-term capital allocation performance.
Worked example
Hypothetical example: A buyback plan lists 1 million shares and an estimated 20 billion won, while the completion report states that 1 million shares were acquired for 19 billion won. Planned and actual average prices are 20,000 won and 19,000 won, respectively. Spending was 95% of the estimated amount, but the full target quantity was acquired. Concluding from the amount alone that execution fell 5% short is incorrect. Conversely, if only a 20 billion won trust contract has been signed, leave the actual acquired quantity unfilled until it is verified in the results documents.
What to check
- Have you connected the decision disclosure with the results report?
- Have you distinguished the spending target from the share-count target?
- Have you avoided mistaking the trust contract amount for an immediate acquisition amount?
- Have you avoided counting amendments as new purchases?
Sources and primary materials
This is educational material about research methods. For an actual company decision, verify the filings and primary sources for the relevant period.