UBS Group said it plans to buy back $3 billion of its own stock this year and that the amount of additional repurchases would depend on new banking rules being discussed in Switzerland. The Swiss bank said Wednesday that it aimed to do more buybacks, but that their amount would depend on clarity around Switzerland’s future regulatory regime and its financial performance.
The buyback came on top of a dividend that was hiked by 22% to $1.10 a share. Analysts expected UBS to buy back $3.38 billion of its own stock this year and declare a dividend of $0.99 a share, according to consensus estimates compiled by the bank. Last year, the bank completed stock repurchases valued at $3 billion and paid out dividends of $0.90 a share.
