Online trading company Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS) announces that its Board of Directors has approved a new share buyback program to purchase up to an additional $55 million of the company’s shares.

This includes a special share buyback program of $29.8 million, which is directly related to the benefits of the change in tax rate from the Israeli statutory rate of 23% to 12%, following the Company’s successful extension of accreditation as a Preferred Technological Enterprise.

The new program follows the completion of Plus500’s most recent share buyback program in January 2022, having been announced in October 2021.

The purpose of the new program is to further emphasise the Board’s confidence in the prospects of Plus500 and reflects the robust financial position of the Group, as highlighted by the Group’s operational and financial performance in FY 2021.

Share purchases will take place in open market transactions and may be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price, trading volume and other factors. The Company has appointed Liberum Capital Limited (“Liberum”) to manage this new program, which is an irrevocable, non‐discretionary share buyback program to repurchase the Company’s shares on its behalf, and within certain defined parameters.

The Company or the Board have no power to invoke any changes to the above program and it will be conducted at the sole discretion of Liberum within the program terms.

The share buyback program will run from February 15, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

Shareholders of the Company authorised the buyback of up to 10,198,950 ordinary shares at the Company’s 2021 Annual General Meeting (the “AGM”) held on 4 May 2021, of which 1,653,788 shares have been purchased as of the date of this announcement (excluding those shares purchased on the day of the AGM). The current shareholder authorisation extends until the Company’s 2022 Annual General Meeting, unless such authority is renewed prior to this time. The Board intends to seek shareholders authorisation at the Company’s 2022 Annual General Meeting to renew the Company’s share buyback authorisation for an additional year.