Imperial Oil shares climb as it fast-tracks stock buybacks - Yahoo Canada Finance

Imperial says it will repurchase up to five per cent of its outstanding common shares prior to year-end. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Shares of Imperial Oil (IMO.TO)(IMO) climbed about five per cent on Friday as the company announced a plan to fast-track stock buybacks.

Calgary-based Imperial says it will repurchase up to five per cent of its outstanding common shares prior to year-end. The previous plan called for the buyback period to extend to June 2024.

"Imperial continues to demonstrate its long-standing commitment to returning surplus cash to shareholders, and I am pleased to announce our plan to accelerate our NCIB (normal course issuer bid) share repurchases with a target of completing the program prior to year end," CEO Brad Corson said in a news release on Friday.

Toronto-listed shares rose 5.36 per cent to $71.92 at 12:38 p.m. ET on Friday on the heels of second-quarter financial results released before the opening bell.

Imperial booked $675 million in net income during its second quarter, down from $2.41 billion year-over-year. Corson said a “significant level of planned maintenance” held back production, adding to pressure from weaker crude prices.

Production averaged 363,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day, down from 413,000 in the same three-month period last year.

“We expect to see stronger volumes in the second half [of 2023],” Corson said on a post-earnings conference call on Friday.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

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Imperial Oil shares climb as it fast-tracks stock buybacks - Yahoo Canada Finance
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