Air Astana completes first stage of buyback

Kazakhstani airline Air Astana reported completing the first stage of its buyback program. The company has repurchased 4.63 million securities out of the 4.78 million planned. The air carrier intends to continue the process, according to Qazaq Association of Minority Shareholders (QAMS).

The company announced the buyback as early as late April 2024. The decision was made 2.5 months after the long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) to reward employees for their «hard work.» Overall, 1.3% of the total capital placed has been bought back.

According to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), Air Astana was repurchasing its shares from early May to late September and again from November to late December. In October 2024 and January 2025, no transactions were reported. The total value of these shares was $8.2 million, 40% lower than the planned threshold of $12 million.

The shares are planned to be distributed among the airline’s employees this February, a year after the IPO, Air Astana’s IR service reported. Although the company has not disclosed the number of phases in the program, it has pledged to provide regular progress updates. 

Air Astana went public simultaneously on KASE, the Astana International Exchange (AIX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Feb. 15, 2024. The total amount of placed shares reached $370 million (with full exercising of an option for additional placement taken into account). The company, however, managed to raise only $120 million.

The offering price was approximately $2.07 per share. The share price of the company on KASE has dropped to roughly $1.47 since the IPO. Air Astana’s global depositary receipts, which grant the right to hold four shares, currently cost $5.71 per item on LSE, seeing a sharp decline of 36.6%. On AIX, the stock value has dropped by 30.1% to $1.45. As of today, 41% of the company’s shares are held by Kazakhstan’s state-owned fund Samruk-Kazyna, 23.27% are held by nominal shareholder Citibank, 16.95% are owned by British BAE Systems and 6.51% by Kazakhstan’s Unified Accumulative Pension Fund.