ZURICH: Swiss food giant Nestle said on Monday it had completed a 20 billion Swiss franc ($20.7bn) share buyback program and reiterated plans for a new one up to the same amount starting next year.

Since July 4, 2017, Nestle said it had repurchased 225,186,059 of its shares at an average price per share of 88.82 Swiss francs.

“Nestle will start a new share buyback program of up to CHF 20 billion as announced on Oct 17,” the company said in a statement.

“Nestle plans to commence repurchases on or after Jan 3, 2020. The new share buyback program shall be completed by the end of December 2022.”

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2019