October 16 (SeeNews) - Romanian information technology group Flamingo International got its shareholders' approval to buy back 0.98% of its nominal share capital, in the next year-and-a-half as part of plans to distribute its stock among its employees, the company said on Tuesday.
Flamingo will buy 7.7 million of its own shares shares at prices between their face value of 0.1 lei ($0.04/0.03euro) and 0.6 lei each, the company said in a statement. Shares in Flamingo International were last traded on October 12 on the Bucharest Stock Exchange at 0.3730 lei, down 1.84%.
The share buyback is a part of Flamingo strategy Share Options Plan 2007 – 2010 and Share Repurchase Program 2007 to distribute shares among its employees. Company officials were not immediately available to provide more details.
The company is owned by a large number of minority shareholders. Romanian businessman Dragos Daniel Cinca is Flamingo's largest single shareholder with a 30.14% stake.
Flamingo International said earlier it expects to swing to 520,000 euro ($734,360) net profit in 2007, from a net loss of 22.8 million lei last year.
Flamingo International operates three brand store chains - household appliances chains Flanco, Flanco World and communications products stores Flamingo International. Earlier this year, the company sold its Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian units and the distribution unit Future Shop to focus on its core activity in Romania. Flamingo has now a sole subsidiary abroad, in the Netherlands.
(1 euro = 3.3507 Romanian lei)