La Kaffa International Co (六角國際), which owns bubble tea brand Chatime (日出茶太) and other food and beverage brands in Taiwan and abroad, yesterday announced its second share buyback program, as its operations have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its shares have plummeted.
The company’s board of directors approved the buyback program earlier yesterday in a bid to support its share prices and safeguard the interests of shareholders, La Kaffa said in a statement.
La Kaffa aims to buy back 1 million — or 2.23 percent of its outstanding shares — on the open market from today to March 24 at NT$70 to NT$130 per share, the statement said.
Photo courtesy of La Kaffa International Co
“The purpose of the buyback is to transfer shares to employees to boost their morale and retain outstanding talent,” La Kaffa chairman Henry Wang (王耀輝) said in the statement.
The program is expected to cost the firm NT$1.19 billion (US$42.97 million), La Kaffa said.
The company’s shares yesterday closed 0.34 percent lower at NT$89 in Taipei trading, having dropped 25.21 percent over the past year due to its lackluster revenue performance.
The broader market was up 16.74 percent over the same period, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The company’s consolidated revenue totaled NT$4.17 billion last year, flat from the previous year.
La Kaffa has yet to release earnings for last quarter, but net profit in the first three quarters of last year totaled NT$61.76 million, down 21 percent from NT$78.33 million a year earlier.
La Kaffa said it would restart its expansion of Chatime stores this year and aims to achieve a net increase in global stores of 25 to 30 percent on average per year for the next five years.
Apart from its bubble tea business, the company also operates coffee, restaurant and beef noodle chains.
With the vaccine coverage rate rising and fewer border controls worldwide, the company expects in the coming years to maintain annual growth in stores of at least 20 percent, up from an estimated 1,500 stores this year, it said.
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