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Credit Suisse Plans $1.02 Billion Share Buybacks by End of 2019

Credit Suisse in December announced a plan to repurchase stock of as much as 3 billion francs over this year and the next.

Credit Suisse Plans $1.02 Billion Share Buybacks by End of 2019
A sign sits illuminated above the entrance of the Credit Suisse Group AG headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photographer: Michele Limina/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG expects to buy back shares worth at least 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.02 billion) by the end of this year as Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam rewards investors for sticking with him through a three-year revamp.

The bank’s board has authorized purchases of as much as 1.5 billion francs this year “subject to market and economic conditions,” Credit Suisse said in a statement on Friday. The program will begin on Jan. 14.

Credit Suisse in December announced a plan to repurchase stock of as much as 3 billion francs over this year and the next. However, the buyback plan and an increase to the dividend were seen as slightly disappointing and unambitious by many investors, and the shares stayed flat following the December announcement.

The lender’s shares fell 38 percent in Zurich trading last year, compared with a decline of 28 percent on the Bloomberg Europe 500 Banks and Financial Services Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ross Larsen in Rome at rlarsen2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Vernon Wessels

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