(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) rose in morning trades in New York and Toronto after the Canadian smartphone maker said it plans to buy back 12 million shares.
The company’s NASDAQ-listed shares were up 1.7 percent at $10.44 at 2:06 p.m. in New York while the company’s TSX-listed shares gained 2.2 percent to C$12.82.
which has not repurchased any outstanding securities in the last one year said in a statement late yesterday that it would present a new employee share purchase program and propose an increase in its equity incentive plan at its annual meeting next month.
If the proposals are not approved by shareholders the company which has struggled to cope with competition from a host of smartphone makers including and Samsung would drop the repurchase plan.
said it would buy the shares representing about 2.6 percent of its outstanding public float over the Nasdaq Stock Market or on the Toronto Stock Exchange within the next 12 months subject to approval.
As of May 10 the Waterloo Ontario-based company had a free float of 502.8 million shares according to Reuters.
also unveiled yesterday that CEO John Chen saw his compensation dramatically reduced this year. John Chen took in total compensation of $3420683 this fiscal year with a base salary of $1 million bolstered by $1.2 million in stock-based compensation and about the same amount in other incentives.
That's a steep drop from last year when his base salary was $326374 but topped up with more than $84 million in stock-based compensation.
But Chen also owns 13 million shares that have not yet vested which at current market rates are worth about $140 million.
Chen since taking over in November 2013 has been diversifying the company with the goal of doubling software revenue to $500 million US by next March.
Several top employees have left the company in the past year including Jeff Gadway former director of enterprise product marketing; and Alec Saunders former vice president of the QNX unit.
“We intend to take advantage of our strong cash position to purchase our shares when the market price does not reflect what we view to be the underlying value and future prospects of our business” chief executive officer John Chen said in the statement.
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