PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa Tbk (RALS) plans to buy back 354.8 million shares or the equivalent of 5% of the paid-up capital.

Referring to the management's official publication, on Monday (8/3), the company has budgeted Rp350 billion to realize this corporate action.

To pass the share buyback, the company will ask for shareholders' approval at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on April 14, 2021. The company will carry out the share buyback no later than 18 months.

Management explained, although the company suffered losses for the 2020 financial year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company had made a profit in the previous year, and the board of directors managed to maintain adequate liquidity. Thus, the company plans to increase shareholder value by returning cash flow to its shareholders by holding this corporate action.

Approval of the plan will provide greater flexibility to the company in managing capital to achieve a more efficient capital structure.

The Board of Directors believes that implementing the buyback plan will not affect the company's business activities, considering that the company has sufficient working capital and cash flow to carry out the program and finance the company's business activities.

After implementing the buyback plan, the company's total assets increased to Rp5.361 trillion, with equity reduced to Rp3.376 trillion, ROA and ROE rising to 2.48% and 3.94%, respectively.