In 2021, the General Meeting of Shareholders authorised the Executive Board to buy back at maximum 10% of its own shares, to fulfil the obligations for the employee participation plans, among other things. Accordingly, 190,000 shares were repurchased in the period 28 April to 20 May 2021 for an average price of €5.42 per share and for a total amount of €1,030,400. The progress of the share buy-back programme was disclosed by means of a weekly press release.
On 2 November 2021 ForFarmers published its Q3 Trading Update, in which the company announced it would follow up with information regarding alternative capital allocation plans. ForFarmers approaches decisions regarding capital allocation along certain lines. The first step is to invest in the ongoing business activities, paying attention to various aspects ranging from returns and maintenance to sustainability. The next step is that in addition, ForFarmers wants to invest in M&A, which is one of the strategic pillars to enhance de organisation. On top of that, in the event the Executive Board deems it opportune to utilise the strong balance sheet for a share buy-back programme, it will make such a proposal taking into consideration the capital allocation requirements for dividend distribution, the strategic programmes and the share price.
On 1 December 2021, ForFarmers announced to start a share buy-back programme of at maximum €50 million, to make the balance sheet more efficient (capital reduction) among other things. The programme started on 2 December, under the authorisation granted by the AGM to ForFarmers in 2021 to repurchase at maximum 10% of its issued shares and, if granted, the authorisation of the AGM in 2022. Per 31 December 2021, 1,874,046 own shares were repurchased for a total amount of €7,322,020, making the average price per share €3.91.