KRUK presents details of its share buyback – the tenders will be accepted until November 13th

Today KRUK has presented details of its share buyback offer to the shareholders. Tenders submitted in response to the offer will be accepted from October 19th to November 13th 2020. Santander Biuro Maklerskie has been selected at the brokerage house to conduct the buyback on behalf of the company. The shareholders may also place their tenders with the brokerage houses keeping their securities accounts in which KRUK shares are registered. In line with the share buyback timetable, the planned date when the tenders will be accepted by the company and the reduction rate will be determined is set at November 16th 2020. The expected date of the transaction consummation and repurchase of the shares is November 18th 2020. The share price was set at PLN 350, which is associated with a large premium to the market price (ca. 170% of the premium to the closing price on October 12th, 2020).

“This year, the Management Board offered its shareholders a share buyback as an alternative to standard dividend distribution, and the General Meeting of Shareholders resolved to opt for it. Despite the challenging environment, our liquidity positions us to share a part of the 2019 profit with the shareholders. For the sixth consecutive year, we will distribute income, while maintaining financial and operational readiness to actively participate in the debt purchase market,” said Piotr Krupa, President of the KRUK S.A. Management Board. “The process will be handled by the Santander brokerage house, and defining the rules we wanted to offer our shareholders, in particular individual investors, the opportunity to use the services of their own brokerage houses. If the brokerage houses offer the possibility of placing tenders online, we will also accept and recommend this option. In addition, we give the shareholders four weeks so that they can tender their shares for sale at their convenience. We would like each KRUK shareholders to be able to participate in the buyback. We expect a significant response from the shareholders, and thus a large scaling down of the number of shares actually repurchased relative to the number tendered,” adds Piotr Krupa.

If the total number of shares tendered exceeds the number of shares specified in the buyback offer, i.e. 271,000, KRUK will acquire the shares in accordance with the reduction rules described in Resolution No. 7/2020 of the KRUK S.A. Annual General Meeting of August 31st 2020 on the allocation of KRUK S.A. net profit for 2019 (available here) and in the share buyback offer (contents here).

In 2019, the KRUK Group reported consolidated net profit of PLN 277m, while KRUK S.A.’s separate profit came in at PLN 386m, of which PLN 95m was allocated by the shareholders for the share buyback. As at September 30th 2020, the KRUK Group’s cash and cash equivalents were estimated at PLN 264m, up by PLN 14m on the end of June 2020. Credit facility amounts available and undrawn as at September 30th 2020 were PLN 1,181m, having grown by PLN 271m relative to the end of June 2020.