Jakarta. Matahari Department Store, Indonesia's largest listed department store operator, has announced to continue its buyback program, seeking to recoup  262.6 million shares, equivalent to 10 to the company's paid-in and issued capital, for up to $34.7 million, the company said in a statement on Friday. 

Matahari was the latest to announce a buyback program in the past two weeks, following consumer good manufacturer Kino Indonesia and the country's largest lender by asset Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).

"The repurchase of shares will be carried out no later than three months until May 3, 2022. The company will limit the maximum purchase price of Rp 4,700 per share," the company said. 

On Friday, the purchase price offers a 21 percent premium over Matahari's closing price at Rp 3,880 apiece. The share has climbed 218 percent in the past year, continuing the recovery from its decade-low level in 2020. 

Matahari said it earmarked Rp 500 billion ($34.7 million) for the program. The company first announced to buy back 10 percent shares on Nov 5, 2021. The program was supposed to end on Friday.  

Previously, the company completed a buyback of 2.47 percent of its paid-up and issued capital from August 6 to November 5, 2021, for Rp 151.8 billion.

Earlier, Kino also announced a plan to buy back up to 20 million shares, or 20 percent of its paid-up capital, at up to Rp 5,000 apiece. The maximum purchase price could mean a 50 percent gain for those who managed to buy the share at Friday's closing price of Rp 3,320 apiece. 

In a statement on Thursday, Kino said that it had earmarked Rp 100 billion from its cash to fund the buyback. 

"The buyback of shares will be carried out in stages over a three-month period starting from February 3, 2022, to May 2, 2022," the company said in the statement. 

Meanwhile, BRI had also developed a plan that would eclipse the previous two companies' combined buyback amount. BRI announced on Jan 24 that it would buy back its shares worth up to Rp 3 trillion between March 1, 2022, and Aug 31, 2023. 

The lender said it would allocate the shares it bought back as incentives for employees and board members.