Imperial Oil Renews Share Repurchase Plan

By Tamara Parker • Monday, June 24 15:19 • Permanent Link

Imperial Oil Limited (TSE: IMO, NYSE American: IMO) has announced the renewal of its annual normal course issuer bid (NCIB) with the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The company aims to repurchase up to five percent of its 535,836,803 outstanding common shares as of June 15, 2024, or a maximum of 26,791,840 shares during the next 12 months.

The new one-year program is set to begin on June 29, 2024, and will end when the maximum allowable number of shares is purchased, or on June 28, 2025. Imperial has also established an automatic share purchase plan with its designated broker to facilitate the purchase of common shares, both under the NCIB and concurrently from ExxonMobil, the company's majority shareholder.

Under the previous program, which concluded on October 19, 2023, Imperial purchased the maximum 29,207,635 shares available, with 8,879,143 shares purchased on the open market and a corresponding 20,328,492 shares purchased from ExxonMobil. This represented a total cost of about $2,300 million and an average cost of $78.75 per share.

ExxonMobil will be able to sell its shares to Imperial under the NCIB to maintain its proportionate share ownership at approximately 69.6 percent. The company has advised Imperial that it intends to participate, as it has in prior years, and has established an automatic share disposition plan to facilitate the sale of its shares.

All share purchases will be made through the Toronto Stock Exchange and alternative trading systems in Canada. Shares purchased under the NCIB are cancelled and restored to the status of authorized but unissued shares.

The press release also noted that as of the close of business on June 15, 2024, Imperial has 535,836,803 issued and outstanding common shares. The average daily trading volume of Imperial’s common shares over the six calendar months prior to the date of the announcement was 1,019,629 shares per day. Consequently, Imperial’s daily purchase limit under the new program for shares held by shareholders other than ExxonMobil will be 254,907 shares, representing 25 percent of the average daily trading volume.

This announcement reflects the company’s priority and capacity to return cash to shareholders, leveraging the NCIB as a flexible and tax-efficient way of distributing surplus liquidity to shareholders. Today the company's shares have moved 4.1% to a price of $68.6. If you want to know more, read the company's complete 8-K report here.

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