Givaudan Will Buy Back

Givaudan AG, Geneva, Switzerland, said it plans to buy back 10% of its own shares, citing a lack of acquisition prospects as the reason.
Givaudan’s board of directors plans to start a new share buy-back program of up to 800,000 registered shares, or 10% of the share capital. A further reduction of the share capital by the amount of shares to be repurchased will be proposed at the company’s annual general meeting April 16, 2004, to further improve earnings per share, company executives said.
The buy-back program was motivated by the company’s ample liquid funds, high free cash flow, attractive share price and a current lack of major value-adding acquisitions. On March 31, the company completed its first share buy-back program, according to a company spokesperson.