General Motors said Tuesday its board approved a fresh repurchase authorization to buy back up to $6 billion worth of the automaker's common stock, a month after beating Wall Street estimates in the first quarter on strong demand for gas-powered vehicles.
"We are very focused on the profitability of our ICE [internal combustion engine] business, we're growing and improving the profitability of our EV [electric vehicle] business and deploying our capital efficiently," GM executive vice president and CFO Paul Jacobson said in a statement announcing the move. "This allows us to continue returning cash to shareholders."
GM ENDING PRODUCTION OF CHEVROLET MALIBU
GM previously announced a $10 billion share buyback in November, and said Tuesday that roughly $1.4 billion in capacity remains under that agreement. In the first quarter, the company repurchased $300 million shares, and plans to buy back the remaining $1.1 billion by the end of the second quarter.
The Detroit automaker did not give a time frame for the latest buyback but said the move will allow it to "opportunistically repurchase shares" after the completion of the existing plan.
BUCK UNVEILS ENCLAVE SUV THAT FEATURES NEW TECH, REDESIGNED STYLE
Shares of the company, which has a market capitalization of nearly $54 billion, were up 1.8% in early trading. They have risen about 50% since GM announced the $10 billion stock buyback in late November.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
It had raised its dividend by 33% to 12 cents per share in January.
Reuters contributed to this report.
