The Board of Directors of Real Estate Credit Investments Limited (LON:RECI) has announced that it intends to commence a share buyback programme.
The Board consistently maintains its practice of considering all options when assessing the levels of cash to be retained or deployed by the Company from time to time and how any such cash available for deployment should be allocated. Excess cash is regarded as the cash available following recognition of the obligation to ensure sufficient cash resources to pay, inter alia, the Company’s expenses, borrowings, dividends and fund its ongoing contractual loan commitments, from time to time (“Available Cash“). In the current circumstances, the Board has chosen to make an allocation of Available Cash available to finance the Programme alongside potential reinvestment into new enhanced return investment opportunities as and when appropriate.
The Programme will extend from today’s date for the period up to the end of the Company’s current financial year on 31 March 2024. The aggregate purchase price of all shares acquired under the Programme will be no greater than £5.0 million.
The Programme will occur within the limitations of RECI’s existing general authority to purchase no more than 34,376,938 ordinary shares of no par value each as granted by shareholders at the Company’s annual general meeting held on 15 September 2022 (with such authority to be renewed at the forthcoming annual general meeting). The purpose of the Programme is to reduce the total issued share capital of the Company.
The Company has appointed Liberum Capital Limited to make market purchases of Ordinary Shares in respect of the Programme. Liberum will purchase the Ordinary Shares as principal (and not as agent) and sell them on to the Company. The Company intends that any Ordinary Shares purchased by the Company will be held in treasury.
Any share purchases will be made in accordance with certain pre-set parameters set out in the terms of Liberum’s engagement, the general authority of Real Estate Credit Investments to repurchase shares granted by shareholders at the Company’s 2022 annual general meeting with such authority to be renewed at the forthcoming annual general meeting; and the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014) as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended); and Chapter 12 of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Rules.
The maximum price payable per share (exclusive of expenses) must not exceed the higher of: (i) 105% of the average middle market quotations for the five business days preceding the date of purchase; and (ii) the higher of the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid on the London Stock Exchange.
A buy-back of Ordinary Shares on any trading day may represent a significant proportion of the daily trading volume in the Shares on the Exchange (and could exceed the 25% limit of the average daily trading volume of the preceding 20 business days as referred to in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 2016/1052 on buy-back programmes (as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018)).
Any purchase of Ordinary Shares by Real Estate Credit Investments will be notified through an RIS announcement by no later than 7.30 a.m. on the following business day. Shareholders should note that whether a buyback of Ordinary Shares is made is based on a number of factors and, accordingly, no expectation or reliance should be placed on Liberum exercising such discretion on any one or more occasions. There is no guarantee that the Programme will be implemented in full or that any Ordinary Shares will be repurchased by the Company. The Programme will not impact the Company’s existing Ordinary Share dividend policy, which will continue unaffected through the regular awards of quarterly dividends.
